Schmidt was again asked about the incident with Julian Nagelsmann during Saturday’s Bundesliga game against Hoffenheim when he spoke to the media at Monday’s press conference at the BayArena. “I have already talked about that and apologised to my fellow coach,” said Schmidt: “Now, I’ll wait for the verdict and focus on leading a good final pre-match training session.”
The Werkself are keen to show what they are made of in the DFB Cup. Bayer 04 played Lotte in the first round of the cup last season – when they were a Regional League side – and ran out 3-0 winners. Schmidt and his men will be looking for a similar success tomorrow. However, the coach knows it will not be a walk in the park. “Lotte have started the season well. Last season the pitch was no carpet and then you’ve got the floodlights on top of that. We’re expecting a real cup atmosphere,” said the coach 3:0.
He will be without the services of captain Lars Bender as well as Ömer Toprak after both picked up slight muscle injuries against Hoffenheim, “we hope they will be available for Saturday, “said Schmidt. On top of that, youngsters Julian Brandt and Benjamin Henrichs are both rested after playing so many games in recent weeks and they will not be in the squad.
It couldn't have been any tighter! Despite winning four of six games in the online preliminary round in Showdown 1 of the VBL Club Championship 2026/27, Leverkusen eSports duo Marc and Sean Landwehr didn't make it through to the offline knockout round. Level on points (12) with seven other teams, Leverkusen were the only team with this points tally not to progress as they had the worst single-game record compared to their rivals.
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Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
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A disciplined and impressive team performance secured a 2–1 victory for the Werkself against league leaders SC Freiburg, who had remained unbeaten across all competitions until then; two players once again stood out at the BayArena: Artisic dribbler Ibrahim Maza scored Leverkusen’s first goal himself and set up the second, whilst goal-getter Patrik Schick had set up the equaliser and netted the winner. In doing so, the Czechia international set a remarkable club record. Both head coach Carles Martínez and the media were full of praise afterwards. Maza himself was also delighted with the growing rapport with “super striker” Schick: “The more we play together, the better we understand each other.” The Werkself’s comeback secured their fourth home win in their fourth home game of the season.
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