The tie at the Wildpark Stadium marks the start of a hopefully successful season for the team managed by the new head coach Heiko Herrlich. The new Bundesliga campaign starts on Friday 18 August with the Werkself away to the champions of Germany Bayern Munich in the very first match of the season. The first home game at the BayArena is against TSG Hoffenheim on the following weekend. "We have a difficult start but we are not worried about it," said Jonas Boldt, sporting manager at Bayer 04, "we'll know straightaway where we stand."
DFB Cup First Round draw in full:
Friday, 11 August, 20.45 CET:
Rot-Weiss Essen v Borussia Mönchengladbach
Holstein Kiel v Eintracht Braunschweig
Karlsruher SC v Bayer 04
Saturday, 12 August, 15.30 CET:
VfB Germania Halberstadt v SC Freiburg
Lüneburger SK Hansa v FSV Mainz 05
SpVgg Unterhaching v FC Heidenheim
SV Eichede v FC Kaiserslautern
TuS Koblenz v SG Dynamo Dresden
TuS Erndtebrück v Eintracht Frankfurt
FC Rielasingen-Arlen v Borussia Dortmund
Leher TS v FC Köln
Chemnitzer FC v FC Bayern Munich
Saturday, 12 August, 18.30 CET:
Rot-Weiß Erfurt v 1899 Hoffenheim
SSV Jahn Regensburg v SV Darmstadt 98
Arminia Bielefeld v Fortuna Düsseldorf
Saturday, 12 August, 20.45 CET:
Würzburger Kickers v SV Werder Bremen
Sunday, 13 August, 15.30 CET:
FC Saarbrücken v FC Union Berlin
SV Morlautern v SpVgg Greuther Fürth
FC Eintracht Norderstedt v VfL Wolfsburg
FC Schweinfurt 05 v SV Sandhausen
Bonner SC v Hannover 96
FC Nöttingen v VfL Bochum
1860 Munich v FC Ingolstadt
VfL Osnabrück v Hamburg SV
Sportfreunde Dorfmerkingen v RB Leipzig
Sunday, 13 August, 18.30 CET:
FC Magdeburg v FC Augsburg
Energie Cottbus v VfB Stuttgart
SV Wehen Wiesbaden v Erzgebirge Aue
Monday, 14 August, 18.30 CET:
SC Paderborn 07 v FC St. Pauli
MSV Duisburg v FC Nürnberg
BFC Dynamo v FC Schalke 04
Monday, 14 August, 20.45 CET:
FC Hansa Rostock v Hertha BSC
Bayer 04 host Borussia Mönchengladbach at the BayArena on matchday 12 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Bayer 04 host Eintracht Frankfurt at the BayArena on matchday 14 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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“As far as mentality and determination are concerned, we have nothing to reproach ourselves for,” Robert Andrich said up after the first home defeat for the Werkself this term. In terms of their play, too, the Black and Reds put in a respectable performance for long stretches of this intense and physical match, outperforming VfB Stuttgart in most areas. It was only in terms of efficiency in front of goal that the Swabians had the edge over the Werkself. Head coach Carles Martínez wants to learn from this so that, in future, they can “win this sort of match too”. The Werkself review.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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