"It's a great draw. The team have already proved they can win there. So we'll go into the tie in confident mood and we definitely want to go through to the next round. On the other hand, we can't afford to doze off in the first half again and we'll have to be wide awake from the start. That would mean we can give our fans an early Christmas present," said Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich.
Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayer 04 faced each other on Bundesliga matchday nine a week ago: The Werkself came from a goal down at half-time to win 5-1, inflicting a sensitive home defeat on Gladbach. Tickets for the Round of 16 tie against on 19/20 December are expected to go on sale at the end of November.
FSV Mainz 05 v VfB Stuttgart
FC Nürnberg v VfL Wolfsburg
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund
FC Heidenheim v Eintracht Frankfurt
Werder Bremen v SC Freiburg
Borussia Mönchengladbach v Bayer 04
SC Paderborn v FC Ingolstadt
FC Schalke 04 v FC Köln
It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
Show more
“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
Show more
Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
Show more
Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
Show more
There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
Show more
