That keeper is Bernd Leno. Born in Baden-Württemberg, Leno played for the Black and Reds from 2011 to 2018 making 304 appearances and he kept 100 clean sheets. The shot-stopper also holds a record: In 2014/15, Leno went 527 minutes without conceding a goal to beat the previous club record held by Rüdiger Vollborn (485 minutes). After leaving in the summer of 2018, Leno now plays for Arsenal in the Premier League.
But back to Leverkusen: Benjamin Cortus is the referee for tonight’s DFB Cup tie against Union Berlin. The 38-year-old IT specialist is supported by assistant referees Florian Heft and Christian Leicher, and the video assistant is Tobias Reichel. Bayer 04 have never lost a game when Cortus has been in charge: Two wins – one in the DFB Cup – plus one draw is the record to date. All three matches were in 2016/17.
Today’s game is the seventeenth time the Werkself have been in the DFB quarter-finals since 1967. The Black and Reds have gone through to the semi-finals eight times and been in the final at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin three times; the Werkself lifted the DFB Cup in 1992/93. The last semi-final appearance was not too long ago: Bayer 04 lost to Bayern Munich in 2017/18.
Stefan Kießling, former Werkself player and advisor to the Bayer 04 board, talked in an interview with dfb.de about his career, the 2009 DFB Cup final and today’s game against Union Berlin. In terms of Union, the 36-year-old said: “They defend well and are well-organised. It’s incredibly hard playing against them.” Kies highlighted the striker Sebastian Andersson: He likes the way “he holds onto the ball and distributes it.”
The groups for the second Nations League were drawn last night. Germany with Kai Havertz, Jonathan Tah, Nadiem Amiri and Co. are in Group A4 with Switzerland, Ukraine and three-time European champions Spain. The Werkself Austria players Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic are in Group B1 along with Norway, Northern Ireland and Romania. Lukas Hradecky and his Finland team-mates are in Group B4 with Wales, Ireland and Bulgaria.
The group stage will be played on three double matchdays between September and November after the Euros in the summer. The finals tournament will involve the four group winners in Division A and will be held from 2 to 6 June 2021.
Former Bundesliga and Germany keeper Manfred Manglitz, who was promoted to the Oberliga West with Bayer 04 in 1962, passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
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Justine Brandau and Lobke Loonen joined the Bayer 04 Women’s squad in quick succession this summer. The two Dutch players have been friends since their youth days, and are now playing for the same club for the first time. In an interview at the training camp in Rieden, Brandau and Loonen talk, amongst other things, about their experiences as opponents in the Vrouwen Eredivisie, the dynamic within their new team and their first few weeks in Leverkusen.
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The Werkself fixture list for the 2026/27 season in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga has been finalised. To kick off the season, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team travel to RB Leipzig between 21 and 24 August. The fixtures were announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning. The season will conclude with a home match on 23 May 2027 against newly promoted side Mainz 05.
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On Wednesday evening, Monheim City Council voted against a planning resolution for the Bayer 04 Campus on Alfred-Nobel-Straße in Monheim in a secret ballot, with 19 votes in favour, 25 against and one abstention. The legal status of the project therefore remains unchanged.
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