
The second round will be played on Tuesday 26 October and Wednesday 27 October. Exact fixture details will be announced in due course. Then the start of ticket sales will be released.
Sporting director Simon Rolfes: "KSC are an interesting opponent, a team with ambition in the second division. We are at home and we want to live up to our role as favourites."
Head coach Gerardo Seoane: "I'm looking forward to this game as the cup competition is something special. Of course, we face certain expectations as the higher placed club. But we also have them ourselves. The next round is the clear target and that's how we want to approach the game against Karlsruhe from the start."
While the Werkself and KSC have played each other 34 times in the Bundesliga the two sides have only meant once before in the DFB Cup. That was a first-round tie at the Wildpakstadion on 11 August 2017. KSC had just been relegated from the second division but performed well and took the game to extra time with a certain amount of luck. Bayer 04 were then able to turn their visual superiority into goals on the scoreboard. Dominik Kohr, Joel Pohjanpalo and Leon Bailey netted the goals in a 3-0 win. The Werkself went through to the second round and only went out of the cup competition at the semi-final stage against Bayern Munich.
Preußen Münster vs Hertha BSC
Waldhof Mannheim vs Union Berlin
VfL Osnabrück vs SC Freiburg
SV Babelsberg vs RB Leipzig
1860 München vs Schalke 04
Hannover 96 vs Fortuna Düsseldorf
VfL Bochum vs FC Augsburg
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs Bayern Munich
Dynamo Dresden vs FC St. Pauli
TSG Hoffenheim vs Holstein Kiel
Jahn Regensburg vs Hansa Rostock
FC Nürnberg vs Hamburg SV
FSV Mainz 05 vs Arminia Bielefeld
VfB Stuttgart vs FC Köln
Borussia Dortmund vs FC Ingolstadt
Round of 16: 18 and 19 January 2022
Quarter-finals: 1 and 2 March
Semi-finals: 19 and 20 April
Final: 21 May in Berlin

Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Bayer 04 put in a brilliant performance to beat RB Leipzig 4-1 on Bundesliga matchday 32 and are now fourth in a Champions League spot. The Black and Reds took control of the game right from the start and, with 75 per cent possession at one stage, took a 2-0 lead into the break through Patrik Schick (25’) and Nathan Tella (45+1’). The visitors initially tried to do more after the break, but the Werkself remained determined and Schick scored his second goal to increase the lead to 3-0 (76'). The Red Bulls pulled a goal back through Christoph Baumgartner (80'), but the disciplined Leverkusen side were not rattled - and certainly not Schick: The Czechia international crowned a brilliant display with his third goal shortly before the final whistle to make the final score 4-1.
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In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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