On the back of the 2-1 win in the first leg at the BayArena, the Black and Reds flew out from Cologne/Bonn Airport on a charter flight – a Luxair Boeing 737-800 – bound for the second biggest city in Portugal. The plane set off with a slight delay from the snow-covered Rhineland and landed at 12.42 local time with the temperature at 15 degrees, with light cloud and sunshine in Porto.
The team checked into the Sheraton Hotel in the afternoon, five kilometres away from tomorrow’s venue the Estádio do Dragão. The travel time in the city with its population of 250.000 is much shorter than for the Champions League away game in Moscow (2:0 at Lokomotiv) – and a great advantage in terms of local logistics.
Long-term injury Kevin Volland did not fly out following the successful operation on his left ankle. Midfielder Charles Aránguiz did not make the flight to the Atlantic coast – even though that was just a precaution. The Chilean is suffering with a bout of flu and the medical section did not want to take any risks. It is possible Aránguiz may be available for the top match at RB Leipzig on Sunday, 1 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET).
Rudi Völler, sporting managing director at the Werkself, did travel with the team. The 59-year-old faced the media ahead of departure from Germany. Völler declared: “We played well in the first game and unfortunately conceded near the end of the game. 2-1 is a dangerous result but we are always capable of creating chances and scoring goals as we’ve seen away to good opponents in the Bundesliga. Only defending against such a good team as Porto is not an option.”
Central defender Sven Bender backed him up: “It would be insane to play for a 0-0 draw. We’re going to play to win!” Playmaker Kai Havertz warned: “It was a blow conceding at home. We can be dangerous away and score goals.” Nadiem Amiri saw that as a key to success: “We just have to score but we can do that with our quality up front. If we score, we can go through.”
A remarkable stat suggests scoring at Porto is on the cards: The Werkself have scored in every game this year – with a grand total of 21 goals in eight games. However, it will be anything but easy to find the back of the net against Porto with their strength at home even though they are without key defender Pepe due to injury.
Winter signing and Portugal expert Edmond Tapsoba will be at the pre-match press conference. The Mali international has got off to a flying start with the Werkself and is now a first choice for the back line. The Portuguese media have requested the presence of the 21-year-old. All clubs are obliged by UEFA to provide a player and their head coach for the press conference ahead of the game. Here’s to a successful return to Portugal!
The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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On Friday afternoon, it will be decided which eight of the 36 participating teams Bayer 04 will face in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League in 2026/27. At the draw in Monaco (live on UEFA.com), the Werkself will be drawn against two teams from each of the four pots, allocated according to the UEFA club coefficient. A match against an opponent from the same country is ruled out, as is facing more than two clubs from the same national association. Here’s a look at the pots and potential opponents.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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