The draw was made by former Germany international Christoph Metzelder and the Germany U21 coach Stefan Kuntz.
"The main thing is to be at home," said striker Kevin Volland after the 4-1 win in the first round at Alemannia Aachen. That wish has come true. The Werkself will go into the DFB Cup clash at the BayArena with the backing of their fans plus the experience gained in the opening Bundesliga match of the season. In an entertaining Bundesliga encounter on matchday one, the teams coached by Peter Bosz and Steffen Baumgart were separated by just one goal in the 3-2 win for Bayer 04. Leon Bailey, Kevin Volland and Kai Havertz scored for Leverkusen. Bayer 04 sporting director Simon Rolfes: "A very challenging draw as the Bundesliga game against Paderborn proves. It's great that we’re at home. And, of course, we want to win the tie."
Bayer 04 fans can look forward to the rematch at the end of October. Ticket information to follow.
Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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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 as he worked 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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