Bayer 04 have declared a Shirt Day for Friday. Wear black and red to show you are right behind the Werkself. Whether it's at work, shopping, playing sport or at home: Everybody should wear Black and Red! On that subject: The Werkself, as against Mainz on the final Bundesliga matchday, will be playing in the new 2020/21 home kit. The highlight is the DFB Cup badge on the chest. The new home shirt is available HERE and from the Bayer 04 fan shops.
Shortly after landing in Berlin, our sporting managing director has a meeting at the Bild Zeitung on Friday. Rudi Völler is the guest on a 30-minute talk show 'Reif ist live' with the football pundit and host of the programme Marcel Reif and presenter Matthias Brügemann to talk about the final. The live broadcast is available on bild.de from 13.00 CET.
Another programme announcement: On Friday morning, the ZDF show Morgenmagazin will include an interview with Peter Bosz from the BayArena. Anybody who does not want to wait so long or simply somebody who gets up early can see it as it is also available from Thursday night online on the ZDF website.
It's incredible how much support the Werkself are receiving from Leverkusen and its surroundings. Our city has turned black and red as we've already reported in recent days with the banner and flag campaigns. Now, more and more cars can be seen on the streets in the morning with Bayer 04 flags; the bus stops and numerous advertising spaces are decorated for the final. The Schwadbus is also driving round the different parts of the city of Leverkusen – and the popular vintage vehicle is available for photos. Here are a few images:
With all the euphoria and anticipation ahead of Saturday’s game at the Olympic Stadium – the fans will obviously be incredibly missed! It is actually the first time a DFB Cup final has been played behind closed doors. The lowest attendance at a cup final was in 1960/61 when 18,000 fans saw Werder Bremen beat FC Kaiserslautern 2-0 at the then Schalke ground of the ‘Glückauf-Kampfbahn’. Even during the Second World War, that saw five finals, there were never less than 45,000 fans. There will be some atmosphere at the 75,000-capacity stadium with a new lighting concept. This involves a full colour LED floodlight system that has been built at a stadium for the first time worldwide. And even if the usual events have had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus measures: The confetti cannon will be fired at the end and tinsel showered over the winning team.
On ‘19:04 – Die Show’ (19:04 CET, on YouTube and Facebook) the former Bayer 04 player and 1993 cup winner, Christian Wörns, will be revelling in memories: "When you win a title you only have positive memories of the whole thing. I was still very young in the final – I wasn't that grounded back then and had incredible stage fright. There was a huge amount of pressure because we were the favourites and definitely wanted to win." In addition, we will be asking the Werkself what a perfect final looks like for the players, taking a look back at the quarter-final against Union Berlin in the series 'Road to #B04RLIN' and we will bring celebrity greetings to the team – from René Adler through Julius Brink to Vanessa Mai.
Peter Bosz and his players fly out to Berlin on Friday – the team bus with all the necessary equipment on board set off on Thursday and will pick up the Werkself from the airport and take them to the hotel and then the stadium. The pre-match press conference with the head coach will be held at the Olympic Stadium and will be followed by the final pre-match training at the venue.
Previous results are clearly in favour of the titleholders Bayern Munich: Bayern have won 55 of 90 games and the Werkself have come out on top 19 times. But the Werkself have proved it is possible to get a result against Bayern this term with a 2-1 win in the league match in Munich. In the DFB Cup, Bayer 04 have only won once in five meetings with a 4-2 victory at the quarter-final stage in 2009. Tranquillo Barnetta, Arturo Vidal, Patrick Helmes and Stefan Kießling scored to knock the record champions out of the competition and go on to play in the final. The two clubs now meet for the first time in the DFB Cup final.
Bayer 04 midfielder Ibrahim Maza was honoured in Paris in the Best Algerian Young Player category at the Fennec d'Or awards for the Algerian Footballer of the Year, organised for the first time by the football journal La Gazette du Fennec. "It's an honour for me," said the 19-year-old, delighted with the award.
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On the back of two wins within four days, Bayer 04 Women round off an intensive Bundesliga week in the Black Forest. Roberto Pätzold's side have the chance to move back up to third place against SC Freiburg in the final fixture of Matchday 10 on Monday (18:00 CET) and draw level on points with second-placed VfL Wolfsburg.
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The last international break of this calendar year features the final qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. An overview of who's playing where and when from a Leverkusen point of view.
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Never before have Bayer 04 led 4-0 so early in the Bundesliga, never before have they won a Bundesliga home match by a higher margin. Leverkusen's exhibition display against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 produced many stories, records and debuts. While Kasper Hjulmand's side celebrated the rousing performance properly with the fans, Jonas Hofmann and Co aren't losing focus: "We have to be careful that we don't just praise ourselves. The games come thick and fast again after the international break." The Werkself Review has all the reaction and analysis of the 6-0 victory at the BayArena.
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