Qarabag have made the almost 3,000-kilometre journey from Baku to Leverkusen. Due to the challenges of the journey, the Azerbaijani champions flew to Germany on Tuesday and held their final training session at the BayArena on Wednesday.
Second-half goals from Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick saw the Werkself come from 2-0 down in Baku last week. It was the first time this season that Leverkusen had trailed by two goals at half-time. Qarabag have managed to score at least two goals in each of their last five Europa League fixtures, but have also conceded in each of those. They are one of two teams alongside Sparta Prague to have both scored and let in at least 15 goals this European campaign, having netted 15 and shipped 16.
Bayer 04’s opponents were clearly full of confidence in the first leg and gained further momentum at the weekend as they extended their lead at the top of their league to 24 points with a 3-1 win at home to Zira. Coach Gurban Gurnabov changed his entire team for that game, also giving starts to Julio Romao and Elvin Jafarguliyev, who missed the first game through suspension. Both are available again in Leverkusen. There’s a doubt over the fitness of forward Juninho. The Brazilian was involved in both Qarabag goals in the reverse fixture but went off injured late on. He has travelled to Germany, though. Find out more about Qarabag in our opposition profile.
Engineering works mean that the S6 train is not running between Köln-Mülheim and Langenfeld in the nights between 13-15 March and 18-20 March. Today’s game is therefore affected, with rail-replacement buses running. Regional trains are not affected and will be running as usual.
UEFA have named Englishman Anthony Taylor as tonight’s referee. The 45-year-old has overseen two previous competitive fixtures involving the Werkself, producing one win and one loss. His assistants are compatriots Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn. Stuart Attwell is the VAR.
From the 2027/28 season, the Women’s Bundesliga will be organised by an independent league association. Following the unanimous decision taken at the DFB Bundestag (national conference) on Friday afternoon, the league’s separation from the DFB is now official.
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Following the Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 20 September, 15:30 CEST), some of the Werkself first team players will be heading off for the first international break of the season. Here is an overview of the Bayer 04 players called up for their national teams and all the details of their upcoming matches.
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A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Bayer 04 U19s have extended their winning run with a fifth consecutive victory on Matchday 5 of the DFB Youth League’s preliminary round. Coach Patrick Greveraars’ side secured a 3–2 (2–1) win in their match against second-placed FC Viktoria Köln, with Burak Kir and Nebe Domnic scoring for the hosts in the first half before captain Ben Hawighorst found the net after the break.
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