“We’ll definitely face a highly motivated challenger in Sonnenhof Großaspach, which we’ll take very seriously. We want to start the season with a win. Our aspiration is to once again go very far in this competition,” said Simon Rolfes, managing director sport.
A total of 64 clubs are competing in this year’s DFB Pokal. Leverkusen were in one pot with last season’s Bundesliga teams and the top 14 sides from Bundesliga 2. The other pot contained the last four second division teams, the top four from the 3. Liga and the 24 regional representatives.
Großaspach are the winners of the Württemberg Cup and have just earned promotion to the fourth tier Regionalliga. The game will be the first competitive fixture in charge of the Werkself for Erik ten Hag.
The second round is set to be played on 28/29 October; the round of 16 is on 2/3 December; the quarter-finals on 3/4 and 10/11 February 2026; the semi-finals on 21/22 April. The final in Berlin will be on 23 May.
First-round draw in full:
Dynamo Dresden vs. Mainz
Arminia Bielefeld vs. Werder Bremen
Schweinfurt vs. Fortuna Düsseldorf
Wehen Wiesbaden vs. Bayern Munich
Sonnenhof Großaspach vs. Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Saarbrücken vs. Magdeburg
Lokomotive Leipzig vs. Schalke
Bahlinger SC vs. Heidenheim
Hansa Rostock vs. Hoffenheim
Blau-Weiß Lohne vs. Greuther Fürth
Sandhausen vs. RB Leipzig
Energie Cottbus vs. Hannover
Homburg vs. Holstein Kiel
Jahn Regensburg vs. Köln
Preußen Münster vs. Hertha Berlin
Gütersloh vs. Union Berlin
Sportfreunde Lotte vs. Freiburg
BFC Dynamo vs. Bochum
Eintracht Norderstedt vs. St. Pauli
Lübeck vs. Darmstadt
Engers vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
Illertissen vs. Nürnberg
Meuselwitz vs. Karlsruhe
Eintracht Braunschweig vs. VfB Stuttgart
Rot-Weiß Essen vs. Borussia Dortmund
RSV Eintracht vs. Kaiserslautern
Viktoria Köln vs. Paderborn
Atlas Delmenhorst vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach
Hallescher FC vs. Augsburg
Pirmasens vs. Hamburg
Hemelingen vs. Wolfsburg
Ulm vs. Elversberg
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
Show more
Bayer 04 put in a brilliant performance to beat RB Leipzig 4-1 on Bundesliga matchday 32 and are now fourth in a Champions League spot. The Black and Reds took control of the game right from the start and, with 75 per cent possession at one stage, took a 2-0 lead into the break through Patrik Schick (25’) and Nathan Tella (45+1’). The visitors initially tried to do more after the break, but the Werkself remained determined and Schick scored his second goal to increase the lead to 3-0 (76'). The Red Bulls pulled a goal back through Christoph Baumgartner (80'), but the disciplined Leverkusen side were not rattled - and certainly not Schick: The Czechia international crowned a brilliant display with his third goal shortly before the final whistle to make the final score 4-1.
Show more
In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
Show more
Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
Show more
