The two teams in the final have been confirmed for nearly weeks. The identity of the match officials for the 77th DFB Cup final was revealed on Saturday morning: The German Football Association have opted for Tobias Welz, one of the most experienced referees. The man from Wiesbaden is assisted by Rafael Foltyn and Martin Thomsen on the touchlines. Patrick Ittrich is the fourth official and the video assistant is Felix Zwayer.
As usual, Germany’s domestic cup final – to be broadcast in 193 countries –is available free-to-air on ARD. It is also on pay TV broadcaster Sky. Fans of the Black and Reds can listen to commentary on Werkself Radio and follow the match via live text commentary.
The big black and red live show for the final! From 19.04 CET, Bayer 04 will again present the ‘19:04 – The Show for the #FinaLEV’ on Facebook and YouTube from the Schwadbud. Today’s guest will be the Leverkusen old hand Peter Hermann, assistant coach for the DFB Cup final win in 1993. René Adler, goalkeeper in the last final involving the Werkself in 2009, will also join in and honorary captain Stefan Kießling will provide updates from Berlin. There will also be other surprises during the show – get ready and tune in!
“Bring the cup back to LEV – make history”: These emotional words are to be seen in the stands at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin to the left and right of the Marathon Gate. That is where the Werkself fans would have been seated. To provide support for the team, the seats in that area will be covered with black and red T-shirts – so the “North Stand” will be in Berlin. This also makes it clear: The whole club is longing for the second DFB Cup win in the club’s history.
The DFB official match magazine provides a review of the season and gives fans, who unfortunately have to watch the game at home on TV, all the information required on the final and the two finalists. This includes, from a black and red perspective, the DFB youth coach Christian Wück discussing the Leverkusen youngster Florian Wirtz, who could be the youngest-ever player in the history of the DFB Cup final. And Michael Ballack, who played for both clubs, reveals who he believes should lift the trophy. Click HERE for the online edition of the DFB match magazine.
This news will interest anyone backing the team from Leverkusen: The special edition #B04RLIN Werkself Magazine is out! We look back with black and red contemporaries such as Andreas Thom and René Adler at the three previous final appearances of Bayer 04. Plus: in-depth interviews with sporting director Simon Rolfes and cup specialist Lukas Hradecky. Click HERE for the online version, print copies have been posted out to Club members.
The traditional ecumenical service held on the day of the DFB Cup final has a new format this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of a service at the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in Berlin, the representatives of the Christian churches plus DFB president Fritz Keller have produced a 13-minute video message of devotion for the football fans.
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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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 as he worked 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 personalised 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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From Ouagadougou to Leverkusen – and back: in March, Bayer 04 travelled with Edmond Tapsoba for a special project in his homeland Burkina Faso. The country where his roots and heart lie. The country where he’s more than a world-class defender: a symbol of hope and a role model for an entire generation. The result is a 45-minute documentary about Tapsoba’s long journey from Africa via Portugal to Leverkusen, which offers extraordinary, one-off and emotional insights.
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Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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