The Werkself make the long journey to Azerbaijan for a second time this season. It is almost 3,000 kilometres between Leverkusen and Baku as the crow flies. Back then and now it is the longest trip for Bayer 04 on the European stage. The Black and Reds beat Qarabag 1-0 away and clocked up a 5-1 win at the BayArena. Bayer 04 are the only unbeaten group winners in the Round of 16, Qarabag – second in the group – reached the round of the last 16 teams via the play-offs.
For the Azerbaijani club, today brings the first Round of 16 tie ever in a major UEFA tournament. The match, as with the group stage clash, will be played at the Tofiq Bahramov with a capacity of 31,200. Qarabag have to play there as their league home ground, the Azersun Arena, does not meet the requirements for European competitions.
The Tofiq Bahramov Stadium has a profound connection with Germany: It was built by German prisoners of war after the Second World War. In 1993, the stadium was renamed Tofiq Bahramov commemorating the former Soviet referee of Azerbaijani origin. His most famous appearance was as an assistant referee in the 1996 World Cup final between Germany and England when he indicated with a clear movement of the arm the world-famous 'Wembley goal' that paved the way for England's only World Cup triumph to date.
Qarabag have the necessary confidence for today's game against Bayer 04 not just from the two matches in the play-offs against Sporting Braga (4-2, 2-3 a.e.t.). The current champions of the Premyer Liqasi are on their own at the top of the league after 25 matches. With a 23-point lead, Karabakh are on course for the eleventh league title. The Werkself will have to be prepared for a highly ambitious opponent this evening but they do have to manage without two key players: Julio Romao, a first choice in midfield, and left-back Elvin Jafarguliyev, who has featured in all the games in the Europa League, are suspended. More information on the opposition can be found in the lowdown on our next opponents.
UEFA has appointed the French match official Benoit Bastien as the referee for the game against Qarabag. The 40-year-old has fellow countrymen Hicham Zakrani and Aurelien Berthomieu as his assistant referees and Benoit Millot is on duty as the VAR official.
Ahead of the game, the Nordkurve12 supporters group organised interesting offer for all Bayer 04 fans: a charter flight to Baku. A total of 420 Leverkusen fans will support the Werkself at the game. As ever, it is worthwhile for all travelling fans to take a look at the fan information put together by the Bayer 04 Fan Liaison team.
In addition, fans can follow the Werkself away trip via our live blog.
As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anybody unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast begins 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Niko Hartmann and Cedric Pick. In addition, the live text update service will keep you up-to-date to ensure you don't miss any of the key match action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
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