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.
Bayer 04’s Ibrahim Maza is among the three nominees for the Bundesliga’s 2025/26 Rookie of the Season award. Fans have until 23:59 CEST on Thursday, 7 May to cast their votes in the official Bundesliga app.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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After matchday 31 and the 2-1 derby win in Cologne, one thing is certain: Bayer 04 will at least compete in the UEFA Europa League in the coming 2026/27 campaign. But the Werkself want more. Looking at the race for Champions League qualification and the remaining three league fixtures, including against direct rivals, bayer04.de outlines the possible scenarios in the season run-in.
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