The Werkself will play the first leg at the BayArena on Thursday 20 February; the return match in Portugal is a week later (Thursday 27 February) at the Estádio do Dragão.
"They're an attractive opponent. Porto are a top team and a real challenge given they are second in the table in Portugal," said Rudi Völler in response the draw. "Porto are one of the big clubs in Europe. It will definitely be a difficult but also very attractive challenge that we want to overcome," added Fernando Carro who attended the draw together with Simon Pallman and Slawomir Czarniecki.
FC Porto were knocked out by FK Krasnodar at the start of the season in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. The two-time winners of the Europa League were then in Group G of the competition where they finished top of the group on ten points ahead of Glasgow Rangers, Young Boys Bern and Feyenoord. This will be the first competitive game between the Werkself and the 'Dragons'. The only previous meeting was a friendly in Leverkusen in July 2016 that ended in a 1-1 draw.
Further reaction to the draw:
Lukas Hradecky: "We can look forward to a good opponent and a great atmosphere in Porto. I've never played against a Portuguese team so it will be special for me."
Jonathan Tah: "It's a cool opponent. Porto have a big reputation in European football. And an eventful history. It will be a cool trip. Porto is a great city. But, at the end of the day, it's important to go through to the next round. That's the target."
Ticket sales for the first leg game at the BayArena start in the middle of January: Tuesday 14 January marks the beginning of exclusive advance sales to Bayer 04 Club members. Tickets go on open sale two days later on Thursday 16 January.
Werkself supporters looking to accompany Peter Bosz and the team to Portugal should make note of Tuesday 21 January. Again, Club members have priority ahead of Bayer 04 fans, who have previously bought tickets, having the chance to purchase tickets on Thursday 23 January. Tickets go on sale on the respective dates from 10.00 CET.
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