The first three points are in the bag and the Werkself women are looking to double that total on Friday night. After the away win at Freiburg, the team go into the next game with momentum. “It’s good if you win the first game straight off as it gives you a boost,” said Feifel, who refuses to get carried away: “A positive mood is good but we have to keep our feet on the ground. At the end of the day, we can’t say everything went brilliantly in the first game. We have to be realistic as some things didn’t work against Freiburg and we have to put that right.”
Duisburg started the season with a goalless draw against newly promoted SV Meppen. Last season, the MSV Women, who appointed the former Bayer 04 assistant coach Niko Schneck (2017-2018 under Heiko Herrlich) as assistant to head coach Thomas Gerstner in the summer, were a direct rival for Leverkusen in the battle to avoid relegation. MSV had the upper hand in the head-to-head games in 2019/20 winning both home and away. Feifel is also expecting Duisburg to present a tough challenge in the new season: “The opponents are almost as strong as last season. The squad has more or less stayed the same. They are tough in defence, defend well and are compact, are physical and have players who want to force the opponents into making challenges.”
The coach demands: “We have to perform to the max at our level. We have to see every game and every opponent in the Bundesliga as a big challenge as that’s the only way we’ll be able to get a result in every match.”
In terms of personnel, Bayer 04 have all but one player available from last weekend’s squad: Milena Nikolic replaces Barbara Reger. Pauline Wimmer (torn cruciate), Verena Wieder (rehab after torn cruciate), Sofie Zdebel, Joyce Prabel (both muscle injuries) and Nico Banecki (absent through illness) are also sidelined.
The match at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be played behind closed doors. Bayer 04 fans can follow the game from home: Eurosport is broadcasting the match live on Free TV and the encounter is on the streaming service MagentaSport.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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