Wins against Mainz, Nice and Augsburg – the season has taken off for Bayer 04 after three league draws the start of the campaign. Going into the game on the back of those results, the Werkself are looking to overcome the second Europa League hurdle on Thursday night, 29 October (kick-off: 21.00 CET/live on DAZN, RTL Nitro and Werks11 Radio at bayer04.de). The fourth match in twelve days awaits in Prague. “Our clear aim is to be in Europe every season – and everybody is aware that involves double-fixture weeks,” said Julian Baumgartlinger at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening. “We all want to play as much as possible.”
The Werkself players Santiago Arias (broken leg), Paulinho (rehab after torn cruciate, Mitchell Weiser (not registered) did not travel to the Czech Republic nor did Charles Aránguiz and Patrik Schick. The latter is back in full training, “but not ready for the squad,” said Bosz. Lars Bender is also sidelined after suffering problems with his neck following a challenge in the Augsburg match and also absent is Exequiel Palacios. The Argentinian is ill but he had a negative test for coronavirus on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Not just because of the players missing– Lars Bender and Palacios started against Augsburg – there will be a different line-up for Leverkusen on Thursday night. “We currently only have two days break between games,” Bosz reported. “We’ve got to rotate. We’ll do that tomorrow – and more than in just one position.”
The top Czech team come from an almost four-week break in fixtures – with the exception of the 3-1 defeat in the Europa League match at Hapoel Be’er Sheva last week. The team from the Czech capital demonstrated their quality in the Champions League last term. “Slavia work together as a unit, are very compact and will definitely ask questions,” said the Austria international who is looking to continue the positive trend with the Werkself: “It’s just great fun to celebrate goals together. We want to have that feeling against (Slavia) Prague.”
Match information:
Broadcasters: DAZN, RTL Nitro and Werks11 Radio
Referee: William Collum (Scotland)
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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There’s lots going on at the BayArena today. The home game against FSV Mainz 05 is all about the numerous Bayer 04 fan clubs, whose birth - the founding of the "1. Fanclub 1976 Leverkusen" - dates back 50 years. A number of fan club representatives will be involved in awards, a banner display and a half-time matchday chat, and the Werkself are set to play in a special white fan club jersey. During half-time, Leverkusen mayor Stefan Hebbel and javelin world champion Steffi Nerius will also talk about the Olympic bid involving Leverkusen. Black and Red fans are advised to get to the stadium in good time today. Matchday news.
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The Werkself host Premier League club Arsenal in the Round of 16 first leg in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. The match at the BayArena is on 10/11 March. Read on for information on ticket sales for this fixture.
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