The two sides met in the first round last term with the Werkself going through with a 3-0 win with goals from Kießling, Calhanoglu and Bender. “Lotte are known as a strong opponent as was evident last year. The fact they knocked out Bremen says everything about them moving up to the third division from the Regional League. We know we’ll a job on our hands,” said Bayer 04 coach Roger Schmidt.
Bayer 04 beat lower league opposition SC Hauenstein 2-1 in the first round. Lotte pulled off a sensational result in their opening match with a 2-1 victory over Bundesliga side Werder Bremen. The team, including former Bayer 04 keeper Benedikt Fernandez, finished last season as champions of the Regional League West to gain promotion to the third division where they currently lie ninth in the table with five points from four games.
The Round Two ties will be played on 25 and 26 October with four matches at 19.00 and four at 20.30 on each day. 16 Bundesliga teams are still in the tournament with RB Leipzig (losing 6-5 on penalties against Dynamo Dresden) and Werder Bremen (a 2-1 defeat against Sportfreunde Lotte) going out in the opening round. 13 second division clubs are in Round Two plus the two third tier teams Sportfreunde Lotte and Hallescher FC plus Regional League FC Astoria Walldorf.
Round Two draw in full:
Bundesliga v Bundesliga
FC Köln v TSG Hoffenheim
FC Bayern Munich v FC Augsburg
Eintracht Frankfurt v FC Ingolstadt
Bundesliga v Second division
FC Nürnberg v FC Schalke 04
Borussia Dortmund v FC Union Berlin
SC Freiburg v SV Sandhausen
FC Heidenheim v VfL Wolfsburg
Borussia Mönchengladbach v VfB Stuttgart
FC St. Pauli v Hertha BSC
SpVgg Greuther Fürth v FSV Mainz 05
Second division v Second division
Hannover 96 v Fortuna Düsseldorf
Dynamo Dresden v Arminia Bielefeld
Würzburger Kickers v TSV 1860 Munich
Third division v Bundesliga
Hallescher FC v Hamburg SV
Sportfreunde Lotte v Bayer 04
Non-league v Bundesliga
FC-Astoria Walldorf v SV Darmstadt 98
The Werkself host Premier League club Arsenal in the Round of 16 first leg in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. The match at the BayArena is on 10/11 March. Read on for information on ticket sales for this fixture.
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The draw for the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 was made today, Friday 27 February: Bayer 04 face Premier League leaders Arsenal. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes sees the English team as a "top opponent" and is looking forward to meeting former Werkself players Kai Havertz and Piero Hincapie again.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without Spanish player Lucas Vázquez for the time being. The experienced full-back and winger suffered an injury to his right calf during the Werkself's Champions League match against Olympiacos (0-0) on Tuesday.
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A goalkeeping era is coming to an end for Bayer 04 Women, with Friederike Repohl retiring when her contract expires at the end of the season. The 31-year-old has played for the Werkself since 2021 and also captained the team since last season. The Bielefeld-born keeper already made her decision during the winter break before her injury.
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Job done: the Bayer 04 eSports team defeated SV Darmstadt 98 in the play-offs to secure their consecutive participation in the VBL Club Championship final. The journey continues now for Leverkusen on Saturday 7 March (from 17:00 CET) with a last-16 encounter at Hamburger SV.
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