
"Villarreal won five out six matches, which says enough about their qualities," said coach Kevin Brok after the draw. "We also know, though, that if we perform at our best, we obviously have a chance. We'll go into this match to win and want to get to the next round."
Villarreal finished the league phase in fifth place with 15 of a possible 18 points. The opening 5-3 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur was followed by five straight wins against Juventus (1-0), Manchester City (2-1), Pafos FC (2-0), Borussia Dortmund (2-1) and Copenhagen FC (2-0).
The last-16 ties will be played on 3 or 4 February, with the exact date and kick-off time to be confirmed on 16 December.

The Leverkusen U19s qualified for the knockout phase of the competition for the first time by finishing 17th with 10 points. Brok's charges recorded victories against Copenhagen (2-0), PSV Eindhoven (3-2) and Newcastle United (2-1), as well as drawing against Paris Saint-Germain (2-2). The only defeats came against Benfica (5-0) and Manchester City (6-0).

Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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After matchday 31 and the 2-1 derby win in Cologne, one thing is certain: Bayer 04 will at least compete in the UEFA Europa League in the coming 2026/27 campaign. But the Werkself want more. Looking at the race for Champions League qualification and the remaining three league fixtures, including against direct rivals, bayer04.de outlines the possible scenarios in the season run-in.
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This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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