The Black and Reds won the last two encounters: In October 1995, there was also a Round of 16 tie that ended in a 4-1 win on penalties after a 4-4 draw after extra time: Bayer 04 secured a 1-0 win in the first round in September 2002. The only time RW Essen came out on top was a 4-1 win in round three in the first DFB Cup meeting in 1981/82.
The Werkself go into Tuesday night's game as the clear favourites – Bayer 04 are in the Round of 16 for the seventh time in the last eight years and have always progressed in the cup against teams from the fourth tier or below – but Essen have already caused cup upsets against two teams this season. "In Bielefeld and Düsseldorf, they have knocked two good opponents out of the competition. RWE are a good team and we have prepared accordingly. At the end of the day, we don't want to be on the end of the next upset so we’ll have to produce a good performance tomorrow," said Peter Bosz at the pre-match press conference.
It could well be match of the season for Essen but "it's also an important game for us," Bosz made clear and he is expecting a defensive opponent. "I think we'll push them back. Essen will be compact in defence and hope to provide a threat in counter-attacks. Therefore, we have to be well organised defensively across the pitch. And, of course, score goals."
Although the results in the league have recently been below par, "we don't need to panic. We analyse what we've done wrong and then work on our game in training," assured the head coach. "Tomorrow we’ll have to take our first chance if possible and then create further goalscoring opportunities and that's how we’ll start."
There will be a late decision on who will be going in search of goals for the Werkself. A number of players suffered knocks in the Bundesliga away game at RB Leipzig. Moussa Diaby, who went off on 59 minutes after a kick on the knee, did not train on Sunday, just like Leon Bailey, who is ruled out due to illness. Only if they can complete the final pre-match training session will they be an option for the squad on Tuesday night. The final session will also be crucial for Sven Bender as well as new signing Jeremie Frimpong who was on the training ground for the first time with the team on Sunday.
In principle, Bosz is open to changes to his team but did emphasise: "We want to win. Therefore, I'll use players who I think can help us most."
For the third time in a row, the Leverkusen eSports players have made it through to the final round of the VBL Club Championship. From 7 to 8 March, they will compete for the German Club Championship at XPERION in Hamburg. At the start of the final round, they face Hamburger SV in the Round of 16. The match starts at 19:30 CET on Saturday, 7 March and will be broadcast live on the VBL Twitch channel. The eSports preview.
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"We played with pace and patience today. That was the decisive factor," said managing director sport Simon Rolfes following the 1-0 win at Hamburger SV in the rearranged match on Wednesday night. Although the Werkself still had room for improvement in terms of capitalising on their chances against the Red Shorts, they produced a different display to last time out and were rewarded for a concentrated performance over 90 minutes. The Werkself review features reaction to the game, including from a happy starting XI debutant, as well as the match stats.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-0 win in rearranged match at Hamburger SV on Matchday 17 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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The second attempt was a successful one: the Werkself won 1-0 at Hamburger SV in the rearranged Bundesliga Matchday 17 encounter. Head coach Kasper Hjulmand's side dominated play from the start and eventually scored the winning goal through Christian Kofane in the 73rd minute.
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