The first game against Real Betis was two weeks ago. With temperatures over 30 degrees in Andalusian sunshine, the Black and Reds battled for a deserved point thanks to a late equaliser from Robert Andrich. The return match at the BayArena between the two top teams in Group G is to be played in Leverkusen with the temperature at 10 and rain is forecast. "That won't make any difference to the two teams," said Werkself head coach Gerardo Seoane. Real Betis have an experienced team who can handle it.
The Swiss coach gained an impression of how his players would deal with the weather predicted for Thursday night at the final pre-match training session on Wednesday morning. Jonathan Tah and Co. completed a thorough warm-up routine in cold and wet weather with a temperature of ten degrees before moving on to various drills involving the ball. The session ended with shooting drills and practising set-pieces.
The youngsters Iker Bravo and Zidan Sertdemir were amongst the 18 outfield players who took part in the final session at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium ahead of the Europa League match. They will however not be in the matchday squad. The new signings cannot be selected via the so-called B list. This is only allowed for youth players who have been with their club for the previous two years without break. Bravo joined Bayer 04 from the Barcelona La Masia academy in the summer, Sertdemir came in from the Danish club FC Nordsjaelland.
Not only the Werkself can rely on support from their fans in the stands on Thursday night. The visitors from Spain are also bringing spectators to the BayArena – 603 in total. We wish them a warm welcome to Leverkusen.
Anthony Taylor is the referee for tomorrow's match. The 43-year-old Englishman has been in charge of games in the Premier League since 2010. On the European stage he has refereed matches involving five German clubs – but not Bayer 04. Jonathan Tah and Nadiem Amiri came across Taylor in 2015: The two Werkself first-team players were in the Germany U19 team at the European Championships and they started the game against the Netherlands that ended in a 1-0 victory under the Englishman.
Taylor’s fellow countrymen Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn are the assistant referees and Stuart Attwell is the VAR official. Have a successful match.
Back to the youngster Iker Bravo. The Spanish centre-forward won the vote for Bayer 04 Goal of the Month in October. His wonderful overhead kick in the U19 home game against Fortuna Düsseldorf (3-1) at 2-1 impressed the fans. The 16-year-old also netted the equaliser before that. Congratulations, Iker. You can enjoy the gem again HERE.
The Bayer 04 Women progressed to the DFB Cup quarter-finals last Sunday after a 7-6 win on penalties, which could not have been more exciting. A central role in the penalty shootout was played by Leverkusen's keeper Anna Klink. The 26-year-old held her nerve and was able to save two Hoffenheim penalties. Congratulations, Anna. You can watch the two saves again HERE.
Jermaine Jones is 40 years old today. The former USA international played on loan for the Werkself in 2004/05 and he made 15 appearances for the Bayer 04 second team as well as nine appearances for the senior team. Many happy returns.
The Bayer 04 family also remember Gero Bisanz. The Polish-born manager would have been 86 years old today. Bisanz worked as the Werkself coach from 1971 to 1973. He later went on to coach the Germany Women's team and with them he won the European Championships in 1989, 1991 and 1995. In 1995, he also led the team to the World Cup final where they finished runners-up.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss at VfL Wolfsburg on the 20th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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