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!
Bayer 04 Leverkusen has a new coffee partner. The club has agreed a long-term partnership with the Bocholt-based roastery Imping, running to 30 June 2031. The exclusive partnership with the family-run business includes the installation of fully automatic coffee machines at the BayArena, as well as the right to supply and serve coffee products in the business areas during Werkself home games.
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Plenty going on both on and off the pitch: The Bayer 04 fan support team has organised a number of highlights for fans visiting the Werkself 2026/27 summer training camp in Blankenhain, in the Weimarer Land region. Registration for the events is now open. All the details at a glance.
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The Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women’s team and s2-Software are continuing their long-term partnership: The Werkself and the provider of pre-owned Microsoft licences have extended their contract by two years to 2028. This means s2-Software will remain the Bayer 04 sleeve sponsor for all matches in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga.
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BIOGENA is the new performance partner for the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women’s team. Under a partnership initially set to run for three years, the club and the leading Austrian micronutrient company are pooling their expertise in the areas of health, fitness and top-level performance.
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100 children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy had the chance to gain exclusive insights: As part of the summer camp, the young footballers headed inside the BayArena at midday on Tuesday, 21 July, where they were due to meet Werkself keepers Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch in the press conference room. The two players took plenty of time to answer every question from the inquisitive audience – whether it was about their own careers or their first impressions of the new head coach. Finally, there was even time left to sign autographs for the young fans.
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