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)
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
Show more
Bayer 04’s eight opponents in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League have been confirmed. At the draw on Friday 28 August held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Werkself were drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots. There are a total of four home and four away matches. Read on for details of opponents and fixture dates.
Show more
In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
Show more
Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-3 loss at SV 07 Elversberg on Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
Show more
No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
Show more
