It is not only the final match of the year but also the last match in this competition for one of the two clubs: When Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayer 04 meet in the DFB Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday (kick-off 18.30 CET) one thing is certain. There will only be one winner! Borussia have the better record in the German domestic cup competition up to now: In the previous five Cup ties with the Werkself, Gladbach have progressed to the next round four times – twice on penalties and once after extra time. It is to be expected the two teams will be on equal terms going into this tie. The 5-1 win for Leverkusen two months ago at Borussia Park may not be a blueprint for Wednesday’s encounter although the heavy defeat on the their own turf is a subject for discussion. “All of our players remember it. We all want to win now to restore our honour,” said Thorgan Hazard, the in-form striker for the Foals.
Heiko Herrlich is also fully aware that Gladbach have a score to settle with their rivals down the Rhine. “There won’t be anybody at Borussia who would say we don’t stand a chance after the 5-1. Gladbach will definitely think they’re in with a chance. And you have to say we were lucky in the first half of the league game in October that we weren’t 2-0 or more down at the break. We were on fire in the second half but weren’t good in the first,” said the Bayer 04 head coach at the pre-match press conference at the Media Centre in the Bay Arena, broadcast live as usual on bayer04.de and Facebook. The Werkself coach maintained that match did show his team “that it is possible to overcome the hurdle at Borussia Park and win there. It’s an all-or-nothing match and you can’t share points in the Cup. You go through or go out and that’s what makes this competition so exciting.”
There will definitely be changes in the Werkself line-up. Skipper Lars Bender is almost certainly ruled out of the game at Mönchengladbach but there is a possibility that his brother Sven will be able to play. “It’s not looking good for Lars as his knee is too swollen and it wouldn’t make sense,” said Herrlich, “with Sven, we’ll have to see if he can stand the pain after he took another blow to the ribs at Hannover. One thing is clear: The health of the players comes first so we won’t take any risks.”
After a three-match ban in the Bundesliga, left back Wendell is back in the squad and Charles Aránguiz is an option after recovering from a torn calf. “Charly trained yesterday and I assume his calf will stand up to it. I hope he can be in our squad on Wednesday,” said the Bayer 04 boss.
Bayer 04 will have the support of 2,730 fans at Borussia Park on Wednesday night.
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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