One day to go before Gerardo Seoane, the Swiss head coach at the Werkself, stands on the touchline at the Bruno Plache Stadium in Leipzig. A crowd of over 6,000, including 500 from Leverkusen, will make themselves heard from the stands on Saturday from 15.30 CEST. "We are all very much looking forward to be able to experience the atmosphere and emotion of the crowd," declared Seoane at the pre-match press conference on Friday. "It feels very different. It will definitely be special, above all for the youngest in the team who haven't played a first-team game in front of spectators before."
Head coach Seoane will have to manage without six of his players in the clash with the fourth tier team from Leipzig. While Jonathan Tah is suspended, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Edmond Tapsoba are still ruled out through injury. Also sidelined are Lucas Alario and new signing Mitchel Bakker with minor injuries. In addition, Paulinho is in the Olympic Games final with Brazil against Spain in Japan on Saturday afternoon at 13.30 CEST. “With the players where there were slight doubts after the week of training, we are assuming they will be able to play," said Seoane.
The Werkself are set to face underdogs FC Lokomotive Leipzig whose coach Almedin Civa described the Leverkusen draw as a "gift". His opposite number Seoane believes there will be a "classic cup tie" at the Bruno Plache Stadium. The Bayer 04 head coach added: "Leipzig will be highly motivated for the tie. We have to go into the game with the same aggression as them and then win the match by the quality of our play."
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werkself Radio
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day of the game

Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss at Werder Bremen on the 13th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
Show more
The penultimate Bundesliga matchday of the calendar year marks the end of an eventful first half of the season for the Bayer 04 Women. After seven wins, one draw and four defeats from the first twelve games of the season, coach Roberto Pätzold's team can go above Werder Bremen in the table with a win on Friday, 12 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET).
Show more
The third showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 kicks off for the Leverkusen eSports team this Thursday, 11 December (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Red will once again take on six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round, which will take place at this third showdown on 19 December in Cologne. Showdown One winners Bayer 04 will face FC St. Pauli, who won the second showdown last month, among others. The lowdown on first three opponents in this online preliminary round.
Show more
The exact dates for the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal have been finalised. Accordingly, Bayer 04's home tie against Bundesliga rivals FC St. Pauli will be played on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, with the kick-off at 20:45 CET. This was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) today (Thursday).
Show more