COUNTDOWN TO KICK OFF
Heiko Herrlich and his team have been in Bulgaria since Wednesday afternoon.After landing at the airport in Varna there was a 90-minute drive on the team bus to the north east of the country in the so-called Ludogorie. To be more exact, the provincial town of Rasgrad with a population of 32,000. After moving into the team HQ, the Werkself had the chance to get a look at the Ludogorets Arena (capacity 9,000) in the evening with a final pre-match training session. Matchday itself provides the Werkself plenty of time as the match only kicks off at 22.00 local time. The order of the day is breakfast, warm-up routine, lunch and a team meeting before the Werkself head off for the stadium at 19:30. Then comes the final phase before the match. The Werkself will wear their white kit while the home side will play in all green.. After 25 degrees during the day, the temperature in Rasgrad is forecast to be 18 degrees in the evening with no rain.
ITALIAN MATCH OFFICIALS
Italian referee Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni Is in charge of tonight's game the 44-year-old is not well known in European club competition: The man from Bergamo has yet to officiate in the Champions League and the Werkself game at Rasgrad will be his eighth game in the Europa League. Up to now he has had no contact with Bayer 04. His fellow officials further tonight are fellow countrymen Alessandro Costanzo and Alberto Tegoni (both assistants), Stefano Del Giovane (fourth official) plus goalline assistants Marco Di Bello and Piero Giacomelli.
BULGARIA RELOADED
For Bayer 04 It will be the second time they face a team from Bulgaria in 25 seasons of European competition. The first time was in the first round of the UEFA Cup in 2005/06. Back then, the Werkself lost 1-0 twice to CSKA Sofia and were knocked out. CSKA are the most successful club in Bulgaria (including 31 league titles) but Ludogorets Rasgrad are on the way to catching up: Since promotion to the top flight in Bulgaria in 2011 no other club has won the league title. Ludogorets are now known on the European stage. The only previous games against German opposition saw them take on Hoffenheim in the group stage of last year's Europa League. The Bulgarian side remained unbeaten (2-1 at home, 1-1 away). The Werkself also face a real test. "It will be a huge challenge. They have been champions for seven times in succession and have twice played in the Champions League. They're not a team you can brush aside," warned Heiko Herrlich. Nevertheless, the plan is clear: Bayer 04 – back in the Europa League for the first time since 2015/16 – want to start the competition with a win.
SAMBA, SAMBA
Since the Bulgarian pharmaceutical entrepreneur and oligarch Kyril Domustschiev became involved with the club in 2010/11, Ludogorets Rasgard have focused on bringing in players from Brazil. The current squad has ten players who were born in the country of the five-time World Cup winners and midfielder Marcelinho has played for Bulgaria since March 2016. And the coach Paulo Autuori is also Brazilian. The Werkself have a Brazilian in the shape of Paulinho.
3 TIMES 04
The Werkself have qualified for Europe 25 times in the club's history. The winners of the then UEFA Cup in 1988 have played in that competition eleven times and three times in the Europa League established in 2008/09 (2010/11, 12/13, 15/16). After Bayer 04 qualified for the Europa League as the team finishing third in a group in the Champions League two years ago, where they lost to Villareal in the Round of 16, this season is the third time the Werkself have taken part in the group stage of the competition. And the record is impressive: in 2010/11, the Black and Reds finish top of the group, in 2012/13 they were runners-up. In both cases Leverkusen easily qualified for the knockout rounds. Overall, the Werkself have only lost one of twelve Europa League group games (seven wins, four draws): A 2-0 defeat at Metalist Kharkiv in November 2012.
HRADECKY SET TO MAKE DEBUT
The news came out yesterday: The suspension imposed on the Bayer 04 keeper Lukas Hradecky for two yellow cards in the Europa League qualifier on 6 August 2015 (playing for Bröndby IF shortly before his move to Eintracht Frankfurt) has now lapsed. That was announced by Rudi Völler and the Werkself number one before departure from Cologne-Bonn Airport. That means the 28-year-old is set to make his debut in the Europa League tonight.For the Werkself, that also applies to the two keepers Rambo Özcan and Thorsten Kirschbaum as well as Kevin Volland, Kai Havertz, Lucas Alario, Paulinho and Sam Schreck. It remains to be seen whether any of the aforementioned will be in the line-up – Heiko Herrlich revealed he is willing to rotate his side at yesterday's press conference.
DRAGOVIC HEADS RANKINGS
Of the current Werkself squad, Aleksandar Dragovic (37) has more Europa League appearances than Lars Bender (15), Sven Bender (14), Leon Bailey (12), Dominik Kohr (8), Isaac Kiese Thelin, Panos Retsos (both 7), Karim Bellarabi (6), Julian Baumgartlinger, Mitchell Weiser (both 5), Julian Brandt, Jonathan Tah, Wendell, (all 4), Jedvaj (3) and Joel Pohjanpalo (1). In addition: Heiko Herrlich is also about to make his first appearance In the Europa League as a club coach.
WHERE CAN I WATCH THE GAME?
This season there are few European games on terrestrial television. The Europa League broadcasters this season are RTL and RTL Nitro having secured the rights to 15 games this season. On the first matchday of the Europa League, the RB Leipzig game will be broadcast live and that will be followed by highlights of the 90 minutes in Rasgrad. Anyone wanting to watch the Werkself opening game in the Europa League live will have to go to the Pay-TV provider DAZN (they are currently offering a free one-month trial subscription). The broadcast starts at 20.55 CET. Free alternatives are available in German on live text commentary as well as the Werkself Radio at bayer04.de.
#PFCB04 – MOBILE SUPPORT
All Bayer 04 fans unable to be at the match are welcome to come to the Schwadbud: the fan pub in the East Stand at the BayArena is open as always for away games so fans can get together to support the lads. The doors open one hour before kick-off at 20.00 CET. Other options for following the Werkself from afar include club communication channels such as the live text commentary on bayer04.de and the acoustic alternative of the Werkself Radio. Other information and key moments in the 90 minutes are also available on our social media channels under the hashtag #PFCB04. It's worth looking in on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat. So here we go Black and Reds, time to fight and win!
