Carl Zeiss Jena today play the Werkself for the third time in competitive matches. The previous two games were also in the DFB Pokal and both ended with victory for the Black and Reds. The Werkself secured a 4-0 win in the first round in the last meeting (2012). Simon Rolfes, sporting managing director at Bayer 04, gave the visitors in Jena the lead after just three minutes. 20 years earlier, the Black and Reds won 2-0 in the quarter-finals in the 1992/93 season and went on to lift the DFB Pokal. Bernd 'Schnix' Schneider, who went on to become a world-class player at Bayer 04 a few years later, was playing for Carl Zeiss Jena back then.
Carl Zeiss Jena beat Bundesliga teams in three of their first four DFB Pokal ties but Jena only went through once in nine such meetings. Bayer 04 have won all of their 14 first round Pokal ties against fourth tier teams – that is a record as no other team has won as many of those ties.
The game away to the Regional League side will not be a walkover. Carl Zeiss Jena have made a brilliant start to the season winning all five games played so far in the Regional League North East. The team led by head coach Henning Bürger, who was a player at FCC, have a new star in attack, striker Erik Weinhauer. The 23-year-old forward has scored ten goals in the past five games – and he achieved a record on matchday two: Weinhauer scored five times in the first half in 6-2 win against Hertha Zehlendorf, a feat never before achieved in the Regional League North East. Further information on Carl Zeiss Jena can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
The Werkself will wear black arm bands tonight. Bayer 04 are thereby remembering Christoph Daum. The former Werkself coach passed away last Saturday at the age of 70. Daum led the Werkself to three runners-up finishes between 1996 and 2000 as well as three Champions League campaigns.
#50JahreDeutscheKrebshilfe: Bayer 04 will wear the logo of the cancer organisation Deutsche Krebshilfe on their shirts in place of the usual sleeve sponsor. This is to mark the 50th anniversary of the foundation. The Werkself are looking to raise the profile of the long-term commitment to the foundation. The home shirt with the special sleeve logo from DKH is available today from the online shop. Further information available HERE.
Directions, catering, contacts and more: The Bayer 04 fan liaison team have put together key information on the away game in Jena to the 1600 travelling Werkself fans. Click HERE for the fan information.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Tobias Welz as the referee for the Pokal time in the arena. The 47-year-old match official has previously been in charge of 18 games involving the Werkself. Welz's assistant referees are Dr. Martin Thomsen and Cristian Ballweg with Alexander Sather in action as the VAR.
The match will be broadcast live on ZDF and Sky. Werkself Radio is also available for anyone unable to be at the game. The audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Niko Hartmann. In addition, the live text update service will keep fans up-to-date at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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