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.
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 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…
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with U19 midfielder Jonah Berghoff ahead of schedule. The Germany U18 international has signed professional terms with the club to 30 June 2030.
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Two months of preparation, five friendlies and the return of a familiar training camp location: After finishing fifth in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga last season, the Werkself will return to training on Tuesday, 23 June. Bayer04.de outlines the key dates in the 2026 summer timetable.
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With sixth place at the end of the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign, Bayer 04 ended a season in the top third of the table for the ninth time in a row. While the Werkself were narrowly eliminated in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 by eventual finalists Arsenal, the Black and Reds reached the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal for the third season in succession. As in previous years, you once again have the opportunity to vote for your Player of the Season. Voting is exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members and only via the Bayer 04 app up to and including 11 June.
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