The Bayer 04 players and staff headed off from the BayArena on Sunday afternoon in the direction of Düsseldorf to take up residence at the team hotel. For head coach Peter Bosz and defender Sven Bender there was the pre-match press conference and then the obligatory final training session for the Werkself. We've put together a gallery from the session at the home ground of Fortuna Düsseldorf:
The clash between the North Italians and the Rhinelanders will be refereed by the Spaniard Carlos del Cerro Grande. The 44-year-old has refereed five Champions League games this season and the Europa League game between Ludogorets and Inter (0-2). His assistants in Düsseldorf are fellow countrymen Juan Carlos Yuste Jiminez and Roberto Alonso Fernandez. The fourth official is Jesus Gil Manzano, and the video assistant referee is Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez.
Inter's head coach Antonio Conte talked about the quality of the Werkself team at the pre-match press conference on Sunday night. "Bayer 04 Leverkusen have a lot of talented and quick players who can be very dangerous in counter-attacks," said the 51-year-old. "When we attack, we’ll have to be wary of the pace of the Leverkusen players. We have to be in a position to play our game and make the most of our qualities to cause problems for the opposition."
As in the Round of 16 second leg against Rangers (1-0), Bayer 04 will also be broadcasting the matchday show ahead of the game against Inter. Our presenter Mara will be helping you get in the mood on the club's YouTube channel from 20.30 CEST (click HERE for the show!) and that will include talking to the former Werkself and Inter Milan player Giulio Donati. The 30 year-old has been at US Lecce since the winter and he was in the South Italian team for the 1-1 draw with the runners-up from the fashion capital. Bayer 04 legend Rüdiger Vollborn will also be on the show. As usual, the Werkself Radio will take over just before kick-off. Tune in!
The knockout clash as part of the Europa League finals tournament is the third competitive game between the Nerazzurri and the Black and Reds. There were two matches in the group stage of the Champions League season of 2002/03, which saw the Italians win both games. The first leg in Milan ended in a 3-2 defeat for the Werkself (Bayer 04 goalscorers: Boris Zivkovic and Franca), the second leg in Leverkusen ended with a 2-0 win for the Italians. Bayer 04 will be looking to improve the stats in Düsseldorf and progress to the Europa League semifinals...
Nerd knowledge: The Werkself played three knockout matches at the Arena built in 2004 – and ran out winners on all three occasions. That was in the DFB Cup in 2008/09: against Energie Cottbus, Bayern Munich and Mainz 05.
Leon Bailey and Panos Retsos were a year older on Sunday. Our number three joined Leverkusen in the summer of 2017 but was on loan for the last six months at the Premier League club Sheffield United. The 22-year-old Greek cannot play in the Europa League as the competition is part of the 2019/20 season. Bailey, at Leverkusen since January 2017, celebrated his 23rd birthday at the team hotel in Düsseldorf in the evening after having completed the final pre-match training session with his Werkself teammates. Bayer 04 wish the duo: Many happy returns!
Once again in the last four! Bayer 04 put in a mature and, for long stretches, commanding performance to defeat a courageous FC St. Pauli in the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the third time in a row. Martin Terrier gave Leverkusen the lead on 32 minutes before Patrik Schick made it 2-0 on 63 minutes. Substitute Jonas Hofmann capped off a strong second half for the Werkself with the third goal in added time.
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The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
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As in the past two years, the Werkself are aiming to come out on top in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals on Tuesday night, 3 February (kick-off: 20:45 CET). With eleven home games in a row without defeat against the Kiezkicker, the Black and Reds go into the floodlit match in confident mood. But the Pokal, as is often said, has its own magic and the team from the Millerntor has much more to offer than the current 17th place in the Bundesliga would suggest. After all, Bayer 04 are one of the big German teams the combative Hamburgers have already made life difficult for this season. The matchday news.
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The Leverkusen eSports team picked up valuable points and made up ground in the overall table with a top four finish in the offline round in Showdown 4 in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In the round of 16, Showdown 1 winners Bayer 04 defeated the unbeaten runners-up in the previous round, VfL Bochum, in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. The Landwehr cousins, themselves the current club runners-up, then beat the current club champions and Showdown 3 winners RB Leipzig. It was not until the semi-finals that they lost out to the eventual showdown winners Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Rafaela Borggräfe. Bayer 04 have signed the goalkeeper on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season. Bayer04.de profiles the 25-year-old.
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