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.
Bayer 04 host Borussia Mönchengladbach at the BayArena on matchday 12 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Bayer 04 host Eintracht Frankfurt at the BayArena on matchday 14 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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“As far as mentality and determination are concerned, we have nothing to reproach ourselves for,” Robert Andrich said up after the first home defeat for the Werkself this term. In terms of their play, too, the Black and Reds put in a respectable performance for long stretches of this intense and physical match, outperforming VfB Stuttgart in most areas. It was only in terms of efficiency in front of goal that the Swabians had the edge over the Werkself. Head coach Carles Martínez wants to learn from this so that, in future, they can “win this sort of match too”. The Werkself review.
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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 working 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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