The team under head coach Sven Hübscher opened the cup campaign with a 1-0 win at the South West Regional League side TSV Schott Mainz. The only goal of the game was scored by Emrehan Gedikli (72’).
The draw for the last 16 matches included 14 professional teams and two amateur sides. The teams in the amateur pot are from clubs whose first teams are not in the Bundesliga or the second division – this year they are the youth teams from FC Carl Zeiss Jena and SV Wehen Wiesbaden.
As the semi-finals and the final in the 2019/20 season fell victim to the coronavirus pandemic as did the matches from the Round of 16 last term, VfB Stuttgart can continue to be called the current U19 Cup winners – even though their triumph dates back to the summer of 2019..
The VfB U19s beat Werder Bremen 2-1 in the first round of the youth cup. The team under head coach Nico Willig are currently third in the South/Southwest Youth Bundesliga with nine points from four games.
Round of 16 ties:
FC Carl Zeiss Jena vs Borussia Dortmund
SV Wehen Wiesbaden vs SC Freiburg
Borussia Mönchengladbach vs RB Leipzig
FC Nürnberg vs Hertha BSC
Hannover 96 vs FC Hansa Rostock
Bayer 04 vs VfB Stuttgart
Fortuna Düsseldorf vs Dynamo Dresden
TSG Hoffenheim vs Bayern Munich
Midfielder Ruby Grant is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen and joining Portuguese runners-up Sporting CP a year before her contract expires. The 24-year-old has been at the Werkself since January 2025.
Show more
Bayer 04 have loaned Brazilian full-back Arthur to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for one year. Arthur Augusto de Matos Soares – the full name of the right-back – has a contract with Leverkusen until 30 June 2031. At Werder, the 23-year-old is expected to make an impact and help the long-established club further consolidate their position in the Bundesliga.
Show more
Bayer 04 have loaned defender Jeanuel Belocian to Spanish top-flight side Racing Santander. The 21-year-old defender joins the team currently ninth in La Liga until the end of the current 2026/27 season. Belocian’s contract remains valid until 30 June 2029. Last season, the 1.86-metre-tall U21 international was loaned to VfL Wolfsburg for six months.
Show more
He knows the dressing room, the pitch and the club. But, above all, he knows the feeling of playing for the Werkself at the BayArena: Moussa Diaby is back in Leverkusen after three years. The lightning-fast winger has signed a contract with Bayer 04 until 2031 and he will once again wear the number 19 jersey. The left-footed player previously played for the club from 2019 to 2023, having arrived in the Rhineland from his native France as a promising young talent and eventually leaving the club – having established himself as one of the Bundesliga’s best attackers – to join Aston Villa in the Premier League. Now he has returned to Bayer 04 from Al-Ittihad FC in Saudi Arabia.
Show more
