The cup tie in Leverkusen a day before Christmas Eve represents the end of an unusual year of competitive football for the Red and Blacks. One curious fact: While the Werkself have played the Eagles 70 times in the league, this is only the second meeting in the DFB Cup. All Bayer 04 supporters will remember the first: Eintracht and Bayer 04 faced each other at the semi-final stage in 1993. In what was considered to be the supposed final, the Werkself won 3-0 with goals from Andreas Thom (2) and Ulf Kirsten. Bayer 04 went on to win the DFB Cup for the first time against the Hertha Berlin Reserves with Kirsten scoring the only goal of the game.
The two Bundesliga games ahead of the cup tie against Eintracht also promise to be entertaining encounters: On Wednesday 16 December (kick-off: 20.30 CET) Bayer 04 are away to Rhine rivals FC Köln. And Bayern Munich visit the BayArena on the weekend of 19/20 December.
After a few days of a well-earned 'winter break', the opponents for the Werkself are again Eintracht Frankfurt – albeit in another competition. The team under head coach Peter Bosz are away to Eintracht on Bundesliga matchday 14 on the first weekend of 2021 (2/3 January) .
Midfielder Ruby Grant is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen and joining Portuguese runners-up Sporting CP a year before her contract expires. The 24-year-old has been at the Werkself since January 2025.
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Bayer 04 have loaned Brazilian full-back Arthur to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for one year. Arthur Augusto de Matos Soares – the full name of the right-back – has a contract with Leverkusen until 30 June 2031. At Werder, the 23-year-old is expected to make an impact and help the long-established club further consolidate their position in the Bundesliga.
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Bayer 04 have loaned defender Jeanuel Belocian to Spanish top-flight side Racing Santander. The 21-year-old defender joins the team currently ninth in La Liga until the end of the current 2026/27 season. Belocian’s contract remains valid until 30 June 2029. Last season, the 1.86-metre-tall U21 international was loaned to VfL Wolfsburg for six months.
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He knows the dressing room, the pitch and the club. But, above all, he knows the feeling of playing for the Werkself at the BayArena: Moussa Diaby is back in Leverkusen after three years. The lightning-fast winger has signed a contract with Bayer 04 until 2031 and he will once again wear the number 19 jersey. The left-footed player previously played for the club from 2019 to 2023, having arrived in the Rhineland from his native France as a promising young talent and eventually leaving the club – having established himself as one of the Bundesliga’s best attackers – to join Aston Villa in the Premier League. Now he has returned to Bayer 04 from Al-Ittihad FC in Saudi Arabia.
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