
The Werkself will play the current champions of Azerbaijan (Qarabag), Norway (Molde) and Sweden (BK Häcken). Bayer 04 will meet all three clubs for the first time.
Fernando Carro, CEO, was at the draw in Monaco along with director of licensed teams Thomas Eichin: "I'm looking forward to the interesting opponents in our group who we will have the necessary respect for. Winning the group can be our only target. The euphoria around reaching the semi-finals last year has given us desire for more – we want to go for it again."
And Simon Rolfes, sporting managing director, also talked about the opponents: "First of all, I'm very much looking forward to seeing Andrey Lunev again after his move to Qarabag. Then we play two Scandinavian teams in Molde and Häcken who are perhaps not that well-known. But last season we saw in Union Saint-Gilloise how much quality these teams can have. It's a good group without a doubt. Our aim is to go through whoever the opponents are."
The first matchday is on Thursday 21 September. The group stage ends on Thursday 14 December. The kick-off times this season are 18.45 and 21.00. Fixture details should be known by Saturday afternoon at the latest. Bayer 04 will communicate these immediately on the club media channels.

At the end of the winter training camp in Portugal, the Bayer 04 Women convincingly mastered their friendly ahead of the start of the second half of the season. In the match against Swiss league leaders Servette FCCF, coach Roberto Pätzold's team won 3-0 at the Monte Gordo Sports Complex. Carlotta Wamser (4’), Vanessa Fudalla (18’) and Loreen Bender (53’) scored for Bayer 04, who have been preparing for the Rückrunde in the Algarve since last Saturday.
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After Rio de Janeiro, it's off to Thuringia: This summer, Bayer 04 Leverkusen will prepare for the 2026/27 football season in Germany. While Brazil was the destination last year, the Werkself will now set up their training camp in Blankenhain, just outside Erfurt, from 1 to 7 August 2026.
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