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.
During the first international break of the 2026/27 season, set to last just under three weeks, nine Bayer 04 first-team players are in action with their respective national teams. Read on for updates on matches featuring Werkself players…
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Whenever the leading figures in European club football come together, Bayer 04 are right in the thick of it: At the 33rd General Assembly of the European Football Clubs (EFC) in Copenhagen, Fernando Carro, CEO, and Simon Rolfes, Managing Director Sport, discussed key sporting and economic issues for the future.
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Having progressed to the DFB Pokal Round of 16, the Bayer 04 Women do not have much time before their next Bundesliga fixture. On Friday night (18:30 CEST), coach Roberto Pätzold’s side kick off matchday six at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against Werder Bremen – and they have a clear mission.
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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 working 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 personal 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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