Following the last play-off match between Regional League Borussia Dortmund and second division Borussia Mönchengladbach (3-1), former Germany international Turid Knaak drew the 16 matches with the draw led by Maren Meinert, the Germany Women's team assistant coach. The first round proper was drawn from two pots. The 16 winners of the play-off matches were in pot one and were drawn at home. The teams from the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga plus Turbine Potsdam and SC Sand from the Women's Bundesliga 2 were in pot two.
The winners of the 16 ties qualify for the Round of 16 with those matches played between 15 and 17 November. The quarter-finals follow on 11 and 12 March 2026 before the four remaining teams meet in the semi-finals from 4 to 6 April 2026. The final will be played on Ascension Day, 14 May 2026, at the RheinEnergieSTADION in Cologne as usual.
The Leverkusen Women are currently away at their training camp in Rieden in Bavaria (17 to 23 August) preparing for the new season. The team led by coach Roberto Pätzold play league rivals VfL Wolfsburg in a friendly on Friday, 22 August (14:00 CEST, Stadion Grüne Au, Hof, live stream on Werkself TV and on the Bayer 04 app). Following the return to Leverkusen, there is a final friendly against the Belgian club Standard Liège on Saturday, 30 August (16:00 CEST, 3 x 45 minutes, Kurtekotten). The new Bundesliga season kicks off a week later on Saturday, 6 September (17:45 CEST, live on ARD, Magenta Sport and DAZN) with the official opening fixture away to the champions Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
DFB POKAL FIRST ROUND DRAW
SV Meppen vs SC Sand
SV 07 Elversberg vs Bayer 04
BSG Chemie Leipzig vs FC Carl Zeiss Jena
Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich
SG 99 Andernach vs RB Leipzig
FC Magdeburg vs Hamburg SV
SC Viktoria Hamburg vs Werder Bremen
FC Ingolstadt vs FC Nürnberg
Hannover 96 vs SC Freiburg
ATS Buntentor vs VfL Wolfsburg
Kickers Offenbach vs SGS Essen
Viktoria Berlin vs Eintracht Frankfurt
VfR Warbeyen vs FC Köln
FFC Montabaur vs FFC Turbine Potsdam
SpVgg Greuther Fürth vs TSG Hoffenheim
FSV Mainz 05 vs FC Union Berlin
From the 2027/28 season, the Women’s Bundesliga will be organised by an independent league association. Following the unanimous decision taken at the DFB Bundestag (national conference) on Friday afternoon, the league’s separation from the DFB is now official.
Show more
Following the Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 20 September, 15:30 CEST), some of the Werkself first team players will be heading off for the first international break of the season. Here is an overview of the Bayer 04 players called up for their national teams and all the details of their upcoming matches.
Show more
A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
Show more
The Werkself were feeling quite satisfied following their 2–0 home win in their opening match of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League, particularly with the result. At the same time, players and coaches agreed that, in terms of their performance, there was “still room for improvement”, as Robert Andrich put it. For his part, Moussa Diaby emphasised the importance of the victory with which the team had kicked off the campaign, and spoke personally about how good it felt to have started in front of the “wonderful” Bayer 04 fans this Tuesday evening for the first time since his return. The Werkself review of the Europa League opener.
Show more
