After yesterday afternoon's final pre-match training session, the Werkself headed 70 kilometres north to the team hotel close to Mönchengladbach station. In the evening there was communal meal and team meeting. Breakfast on Wednesday is followed by a walk, lunch, rest plus a small snack before the team bus brings the Werkself to Borussia Park at around five o'clock. The Cup tie kicks off 90 minutes later with Manuel Gräfe the man in the middle with the whistle.
The Werkself will play their final competitive match of the year in the red kit. That's been lucky for Bayer 04 recently: In addition to the second round Cup tie against Union Berlin, Herrlich's team have played nine out of 19 games in red this season – only one ended in defeat (1-2 at Hertha Berlin). The record in numbers: five wins, three draws.
The Werkself and Gladbach have faced each other twice in 2017: The Black and Reds suffered a home defeat in the Bundesliga (2-3) and almost exactly two months to the day – on matchday nine in the current league campaign – Herrlich and his men enjoyed an impressive 'Oktoberfest' at Gladbach. For Kevin Volland, Julian Brandt and Co., the 5-1 win was not only the first away victory of the season but also set the Werkself on course for the rest of the season to date. Moreover: On that 21 October, Bayer 04 played in red. But, that's enough about superstition.
There is room for improvement in the DFB Cup record for Bayer 04 in matches against Borussia Mönchengladbach: The two clubs meet for the seventh time in the DFB Cup this evening. When the two sides first met in 1971/72, the Werkself played in the second division and they went out of the Cup over two legs. Since promotion to the Bundesliga, there have been four other ties with Gladbach winning once after 90 minutes, once after extra time and twice on penalties. To date, the only win for Bayer 04 in the DFB Cup against the Rhine rivals was on 20 September 1995 – Holger Fach and Ulf Kirsten score the goals in a 2-0 win.
Please note, dear friends of the Werkself. Borussia appear to be vulnerable in home cup ties: Mönchengladbach have been knocked out in the last three home games in the DFB Cup – and each time against another Bundesliga club. In total, Gladbach have only won two of theiir last eight home ties in the Cup. Bayer 04 could not only take confidence from the successful run of 13 matches without defeat but also the fact they have only lost two of the last eleven away games in the Cup – both on penalties. Moreover, Bayer 04 are always good for an away goal in this competition: Since August 2007, the Werkself have scored at least one goal in all 21 Cup away games (67 in total).
The Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich has won the DFB Cup twice as a player: In 1993 with Bayer 04 and two years later with his new club Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the 1991/92 season, the former Bayer 04 striker scored in the semi-final against Borussia. With the sides level at 2-2 after 120 minutes, it came down to a penalty shootout with the Gladbach keeper Uwe Kamps excelling by saving four Leverkusen penalties. "Back then I was one of the four glorious penalty takers who missed," recalled Herrlich with subdued irony at yesterday's pre-match press conference before adding: "So it would be good to go there tomorrow and get through to the next round." We agree with the boss.
Christmas is a good time for catching up – with family and friends. the Cup tie at Gladbach may bring a reunion with two former members of the Werkself family: One is Christoph Kramer, who was at Bayer 04 from 1999 to 2006 and 2008 to 2016. The other is Josip Drmic, who played for Leverkusen in 2014/15 before moving on to Mönchengladbach.
The Werkself match in the Cup will only be broadcast on Sky. One other option for following the action is provided by the Bayer 04 social media channels and live text commentary on www.bayer04.de – fans can discover background information on the game from one hour before kick-off. Anybody wanting to watch at least 90 minutes in the company of fellow Werkself fans can see the match at the Schwadbud at the BayArena (East Stand).
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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