Bayer 04 and BK Häcken meet for the first time in a European competition. The Werkself have only played a Swedish team once before on the European stage: The two matches in the first round of the UEFA Cup competition in 1986/87 produced an overall result of 7-1 against Kalmar FF. For the Swedes it is their second participation in a European competition after the UEFA Cup in 2007/08 when they were knocked out in the first round by Spartak Moscow.
The Werkself have yet to lose a home game in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League (twelve wins, three draws) and the last six home ties brought six wins and 23 goals.
Work on the track between Düsseldorf and Cologne continues.With rail cancellations at Leverkusen Mitte station there will again be challenges with travel to and from the game. The trains on the regional and long-distance routes will run again on Sunday evening (21.00 CEST) and the S-Bahn on Monday 25 September (04.30 CEST). Information on replacement buses is published and constantly updated on the Deutsche Bahn website.
The Scandinavians wrote a new chapter in the club's history last year: BK Häcken won the Swedish championship for the first time ever. Following that, the Wasps had to qualify for Europe. After Häcken just missed out in the Champions League qualifiers, the Swedes mastered the play-off route to the Europa League in style. That gave them their second participation in a European competition. The anticipation is suitably great. Information on the personnel, performers and problems at Häcken can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
Anyone wanting to read key information before the game should take a look at the new Werkself Live. The matchday programme, offering the most important facts and stats on the game in compact form, is available at the BayArena. Alternatively it is available free online. Click HERE for the e-paper.
UEFA has appointed the Lithuanian referee Manfredas Lukjančukas for the game against Häcken. The 31-year-old match official will be assisted by his fellow countrymen Mangirdas Mirauskas and Vytenis Kazlauskas on the touchlines and the Italian Massimiliano Irrati is in action as the VAR.
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.
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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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 working 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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Having previously recorded six consecutive home wins across all competitions, Bayer 04 suffered their first home defeat of 2026/27 as they went down 4-2 to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Matchday 8. The visitors capitalised on their first two chances to score, with Ermedin Demirovic and Jamie Leweling finding the net in the first half. Although Patrik Schick got a goal back in the first half, Bilal El Khannouss and Demirovic again added further goals for Stuttgart. Bayer 04 didn’t give up, but Ibrahim Maza’s goal proved little more than a consolation.
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Fans at the BayArena got to enjoy a spectacle on Wednesday as the Werkself came from behind to beat Nürnberg 5-2 in the DFB Pokal. Now with the sixth home game of the season, can Bayer 04 maintain their perfect record in Leverkusen as VfB Stuttgart come to town in the Bundesliga on Saturday (15:30 CET)? The visitors have had issues domestically this term, sitting in 15th place, although they have had much better results in the UEFA Champions League. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 8 encounter…
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The Bayern Munich women’s football team are unbeaten in all domestic competitions in the last 62 matches. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the Bayer 04 women’s team will make their next attempt to end the holders unbeaten run in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie. For coach Roberto Pätzold, there are a number of factors that give the Werkself cause for optimism despite the high-calibre opposition.
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