
Ahead of the West clash, the primary aim for the Bayer 04 Women is to deal with the setback of last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Werder Bremen. “The effects of the game are still evident in our legs. I didn’t think we would have another game this season as difficult to get into as the one against Bremen,” admitted Achim Feifel, whose contract has been extended by three years this week. “We have to put everything into the final run-in that we can. The Bremen match was definitely not a walk in the park, quite the opposite: Teams threatened by relegation throw everything into the mix from mentality through to the will to win to stay in the league. We weren’t prepared for that in Bremen. We can expect the same against SV Meppen and SC Sand.” The coach wants to see “an appropriate reaction” to the recent defeat in Friday’s game against Essen.
Ahead of the clash, SGS Essen, in seventh place, are not too far behind the Werkself Women with a five-point deficit having played one game less. “Essen lost a lot of key players in the summer and they had to put a new team together but they have progressed well over the course of the season. They have young, hungry players who can counter attack quickly, a dangerous attack and a plan of how to play their games,” warned Feifel. “Therefore, I think it will be an open game.”
After a long injury lay-off, Sylwia Matysik will be able to make her comeback against Essen. There is a question mark over Henrietta Csiszár who returned from international duty with Hungary with an ankle problem. Definitely ruled out against SGS are Viktoria Pinther (back problem), Verena Wieder (knee), Lara Marti (calf) and Jessica Wich, who has suffered another knee injury.
For the third time in succession, the Bayer 04 Women’s home game on Friday will be broadcast live on Eurosport. The last two games ended in victory – “Perhaps, we have one or two players who might get a boost when the game is on TV. If that’s the case then hopefully it will work again on Friday,” said the Bayer 04 coach with a smile.
More on the game, the two squads, matchday information and an interview with Gianna Rackow are in the current Rasenreport. HERE is the e-paper.

Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-0 win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena on the 21th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Thanks to a masterstroke from Katharina Piljic, the Werkself secured their eleventh win of the season in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. On Sunday evening, coach Roberto Pätzold's team beat FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1-0. Midfielder Piljic scored the winning goal with a volley into the corner from the edge of the box (19’) in front of 633 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium - and ensured that Leverkusen moved up to fifth place in the table for at least one night with 34 points.
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Bayer 04 will have to make do without forward Martin Terrier in the next few weeks. The Frenchman sustained a muscle injury in his right hamstring in Saturday's 3-3 draw at Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.
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Three goals weren’t enough for the Werkself to beat FC Heidenheim on Saturday. The 3-3 stalemate was Bayer 04’s third Bundesliga draw in a row. After a commanding first half and a two-goal lead, “we didn’t get back into our game,” summarised Mark Flekken, who featured between the sticks for the first time in two months. Patrik Schick once again proved his nose for goal, bagging a brace. He is now the third-most prolific Bundesliga scorer in the club’s history. Despite the squandered points, head coach Kasper Hjulmand remains confident ahead of the final spurt of the season: “We’re ready to overcome this situation.” The Werkself review.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 3-3 draw at FC Heidenheim on Matchday 27 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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