Lukas Hradecky and Co. will find out the next hurdle on the European stage on Friday afternoon 25 February. The draw for the Round of 16 will be made at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon from noon CET. The group winners in the Europa League, alongside Bayer 04 including Bundesliga rivals Eintracht Frankfurt, are drawn in pot one. Pot two has the winners of the play-off round, all the runners-up in the Europa League and teams finishing third in the Champions League groups. In addition to RB Leipzig and Real Betis there are the following seven clubs.
The Werkself could face an opponent from the group stage in the current Europa League campaign in the shape of Real Betis. The runners-up in Group G, who had three points less than the Black and Reds, beat the Russian champions Zenit St Petersburg in the play-offs (3-2, 0-0). The team under head coach Gerardo Seoane drew 1-1 away to the team currently third in La Liga and that was followed by a convincing 4-0 victory at home.
Bayer 04 played Rangers the season before – also in the Round of 16. Leverkusen won 3-1 at Ibrox and that was followed by a 1-0 win at the BayArena. The team currently lying second in Scotland's top flight secured a surprise win against Dortmund in the play-offs (4-2, 2-2).
To be fair, FC Barcelona sounds more like the Champions League rather than the Europa league. However, the top club from Spain only finished third behind Bayern Munich and Benfica in their Champions League group. In the Round of 32 there was a 1-1 draw in the first leg against Napoli that was followed by a 4-2 victory in Italy. The last game between the Werkself and the Catalan side was back on 9 December 2015 – a 1-1 draw at Leverkusen.
Bayer 04 could also draw Sevilla. The record Europa League winners (four titles since 2014) also dropped down from the Champions League. Thanks to a 3-1 in the first leg of the play-offs against Dynamo Zagreb, the 1-0 defeat in the second leg against the top Croatian side did not affect the outcome of the tie.
The Portuguese league is always ranked behind the top five leagues in UEFA's five-year assessment. The following four top clubs are the normal representatives on the European stage: Benfica, Sporting Club, FC Porto and Sporting Braga. The Werkself can face the latter two clubs in the Round of 16. Porto beat Lazio (2-1, 2-2), Braga overcame the surprise team Sheriff Tiraspol (2-0, 3-2 on penalties).
Atalanta are well-known to the majority of football clubs in Europe from previous years. However, the Werkself have never played the club from northern Italy. Atalanta finished third in their Champions League group and then made progress through the Europa League play-off round against Olympiakos (2-1, 3-0).
The Europa League Round of 16 first leg matches will be played on Thursday 10 March with the second legs a week later on 17 March. Bayer 04 are away first.
The Bundesliga has announced the nominees for the ‘Top Goal of the Month’ award for October. Fans of the Werkself can now vote for, amongst others, Robert Andrich’s stunning volley from the match against Mainz 05 or Moussa Diaby’s curling shot into the top corner from the same fixture. Voting, exclusively on the Bundesliga app, remains open until Sunday, 8 November (23:59 CET).
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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.
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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.
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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
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“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.
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