While the opening phase was characterised by misplaced passes by both teams, the goal threat rose as the game progressed. After Jonas Hofmann made an impressive last-ditch challenge to deny Dortmund's Daniel Svensson (25'), Ibrahim Maza was put through to score the opener nine minutes later. Robert Andrich thwarted another BVB attack (40'), and coach Kasper Hjulmand said: "It was like a goal, it was very important and superbly defended." After the restart, Martin Terrier put the ball in the BVB net on the hour mark but the goal was ruled out for offside in the build-up after a VAR review. In the final phase, BVB kept going forward, with Karim Adeyemi having the best chance in stoppage time. But as he missed and the Werkself were able to celebrate their progress to the quarter-finals shortly after that with the 7,000 plus travelling Werkself fans. The match report is HERE.
After the game, Hjulmand spoke about a "close and difficult" clash. The Dane added: "We played out very well from the back, scored a great goal and then defended very well. We're through to the next round and very happy." When asked about the positive development of his team, he said: "We're on the right track, but we're only at the beginning. We can still play much better. We will continue to work hard."
Shortly after the final whistle, Maza "felt great" speaking to Werkself TV. “I'm very grateful. We all defended brilliantly together and produced a great move for the goal. It was a team performance." Terrier, for his part, aptly emphasised what mattered that evening: "The result is the most important thing in the Pokal. We're through to the next round, that was the target for today. The atmosphere in the dressing room is great, everyone’s very happy." Further statements from the duo and captain Andrich can be found HERE, the press conference with Niko Kovac and Hjulmand is HERE.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung, Rheinische Post and Frankfurter Rundschau all reported successful "revenge", alluding to the 2-1 defeat against BVB in the league at the weekend. The Leverkusener Anzeiger gave top marks to goalscorer Maza, while the performance of captain Andrich - this time in the centre of the back three - was rated 1.5. Bild Zeitung described the winning goal in their match report as follows: "Leverkusen play out brilliantly from the back. Grimaldo passes to Maza, who initially gets caught by Anton. But the ball ends up at his feet again allowing him to hit his shot into the top right corner - 1-0 (34')."
As with the victory after extra-time in Paderborn in the previous round, Maza was once again on the score sheet - and again named Man of the Match. The 20-year-old has now been directly involved in five goals in the last five matches (3 goals, 2 assists). When asked about his young player, Hjulmand explained: "His personality is great - he's so good to work with. He learns very quickly and always wants to do better. He has great potential. It's good for us that Ibo is with us."
There were also a number of debuts to celebrate: Ernest Poku and Christian Kofane started in the DFB Pokal for the first time, while Martin Terrier was in the starting XI for the first time this season. Malik Tillman made his first DFB Pokal appearance for Bayer 04. The 23-year-old only previously played in the competition in August 2021 for Bayern Munich in a 12-0 win over Bremer SV.
The Werkself have beaten Bundesliga rivals for the ninth time in the last eleven top-flight DFB Pokal ties. The only defeats were against Bayern Munich in 2018 in the semi-finals and 2020 in the final. Bayer 04 also reached the quarter-finals for the third season in a row after 2023/24 (going on to win the DFB Pokal) and 2024/25 (semi-finals) - a club record equalled (previously achieved from 1992 to 1994 and from 2014 to 2016). Another positive fact: The Werkself have won four away games in a row for the first time this calendar year (Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, VfL Wolfsburg, Benfica ).
The eventful run-up to Christmas continues. The next match is on Saturday, 6 December (kick-off: 15:30 CET), away to FC Augsburg. The draw for the DFB Pokal quarter-finals will be held on the ARD Sportschau at 19:15 CET on Sunday. The final fixtures in 2025 are home to Newcastle United in the Champions League and FC Köln - also in Leverkusen - and RB Leipzig away.
Bayer 04 host Borussia Mönchengladbach at the BayArena on matchday 12 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
Show more
Bayer 04 host Eintracht Frankfurt at the BayArena on matchday 14 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The schedule for the game remains to be confirmed. The latest information on ticket sales.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
Show more
“As far as mentality and determination are concerned, we have nothing to reproach ourselves for,” Robert Andrich said up after the first home defeat for the Werkself this term. In terms of their play, too, the Black and Reds put in a respectable performance for long stretches of this intense and physical match, outperforming VfB Stuttgart in most areas. It was only in terms of efficiency in front of goal that the Swabians had the edge over the Werkself. Head coach Carles Martínez wants to learn from this so that, in future, they can “win this sort of match too”. The Werkself review.
Show more
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…
Show more
