
It was an emotional high point of this DFB Cup week! Early in the morning, around 1,000 Werkself supporters assembled on Bismarckstraße to see their team off ahead of the cup tie to be played behind closed doors and to send them on their way with their best wishes and motivational support. The fans formed a guard of honour along the edge of the street as the bus with the Werkself on board set off for Cologne/Bonn Airport around 09.45 CET. The charter flight departed at 11.00 CET and landed at Berlin-Tegel Airport just after midday. After the transfer to the team hotel and a communal lunch, Peter Bosz and Lars Bender attended the pre-match press conference; the final pre-match training session will be held at the Olympic Stadium this evening.
During the night, the road surface on Bismarckstraße in front of the BayArena was sprayed with a message in large red letters that red "Leverkusen is backing you". After the rain shower had passed over, the road was blocked off late at night and a start made on the work in hand. The spray painting lasted until dawn. And the results are well worth a look!
While the Werkself set off for Berlin, Paulinho was already in the Austrian city of Innsbruck. The 19-year-old underwent an operation on the torn cruciate that he suffered in training on Tuesday. "Everything went well with the op," announced Peter Bosz at the pre-match press conference ahead of the final. The whole team gathered at the BayArena on Thursday to record a video message for the Brazilian – click HERE to see the video.
“Cold, triumph, whistles and euphoria" – those are 04 words that the honorary captain and club legend Rüdiger Vollborn thinks of first on '19:04 – Die Show’ when he thinks back to winning the cup in 1993 (at 19:04 on YouTube and Facebook). "It's unavoidable going into a game like that with different feelings. That's why they'll be a little bit more suspense than normal for the Werkself. But that's good – suspense creates better concentration," said the former Bayer 04 keeper. And from one goalkeeper to another, he hopes, "that Lukas has a brilliant day and makes one or two saves. Because you need a good day to beat Bayern plus a bit of luck and, of course, a great goalkeeper." We will also show in the current edition the final part of the series "Road to #B04RLIN" the goals from the semi-final against FC Saarbrücken, we've recorded great pictures of the guard of honour for you and asked the Werkself what words they have for the fans before the final. Tune in!
A good omen: Head coach Peter Bosz could continue a Dutch tradition in Saturday's final of the DFB Cup. All three of his fellow countrymen who have coached in Germany have won their finals: Rinus Michels in 1983 with FC Köln, Huub Stevens with Schalke 04 in 2011 and 2002 and Louis van Gaal with Bayern Munich in 2010. "Those coaches are big names in Holland. It would be great if my name would join them after Saturday," said Bosz with a smile at the pre-match press conference.
After the cup is before the cup. Even though the current cup campaign is not yet complete, the German Football Association (DFB) is already planning for the future. As DFB president Fritz Keller announced on Friday, the Olympic Stadium in Berlin will be the venue for the DFB Cup final until at least 2025. The competition has been called the DFB Cup since 1952 and the final has been played every year in Berlin since 1985. "This final is magic for me. And the rallying cry of 'Berlin, Berlin, we're going to Berlin' has become such a trademark that we need to stick to it in the interests of German football," declared DFB general secretary Friedrich Curtius.

Bayer 04 have the chance to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the third time ever and the first in 14 years at Arsenal on Tuesday night (kick-off 21:00 CEST/20:00 local time). To do that, the Werkself not only require a strong performance like in the first leg, but also full concentration until the very last minute, as the Premier League leaders like to score late - as they did at the BayArena last week. Here's the Matchday News.
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A special award for special social commitment. At this year's ceremony for the Sepp Herberger Awards in Wolfsburg on Monday night, the DFB Sepp Herberger Foundation recognised Bayer 04 in the social rehabilitation category. The Bundesliga club received the prize, together with €12,000, for its great service to inmates, particularly in the Wuppertal-Ronsdorf prison.
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Can Bayer 04 pull off a coup in London? Just over a week after the 1-1 draw in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie, the Werkself are now looking to put in a convincing performance away at Arsenal – and get a result to secure a place in the quarter-finals. Ahead of the match on Tuesday, (kick-off: 21:00 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand shared his thoughts on the team’s hunger for success. Exequiel Palacios, meanwhile, spoke about the importance of the fixture and the team’s development over the past few months.
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In their last two matches, they’ve done exactly what 'Laterkusen' did in the 2023/24 double-winning season: late on, but not too late, the Gunners scored crucial goals – first in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 at Bayer 04, then last weekend in the Premier League against Everton. This Tuesday, 17 March (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Arsenal host the Werkself in London. The latest on our opponents.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss at VfL Wolfsburg on the 20th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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