After the hard-fought 3-2 away win at SC Freiburg on matchday one in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga and the comfortable progress to the DFB Pokal Round of 16, Pätzold is full of anticipation for his first home game as the Leverkusen coach at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium: "We are looking forward to finally being able to show what we can do with the home atmosphere, in front of our fans and families," said the 45 year-old: "The pitch and the facilities in and around the UHS are outstanding and everything is set up for us to be able to play a good first home game."
The challenge facing the Werkself in this mission is big as the Eagles, whose additions in the summer include former Bayer 04 captain Elisa Senß, finished third in the table last season.
The Leverkusen coach, who expects to face a well-organised Frankfurt side, sees the game as "a first chance to see how far we can go this season" and he is looking to build on the style of play developed over the preseason: "We will try to put them under pressure, force them into making errors and play with the right mentality."
This could be a very special game for the Eintracht midfielder sense Senß. The Germany international returns to the first match at Leverkusen after two years at Bayer 04. Shortly before kick-off, Senß will be presented with the trophy as the winner of the vote for Bayer 04 Women's team Player of the Season 2023/24.
For the meeting with the team from Hessen, who missed out on qualifying for the group stage of the UEFA Women's Champions League last week after a 2-0 defeat against Sporting CF, and this week clocked up a 10-0 win against FFV Erfurt in the second round of the DFB Pokal, the Bayer 04 Women's team will again have to manage without Charlotte Voll, Melissa Friedrich (both training deficit), Paulina Bartz (illness), Sofie Zdebel and Loreen Bender (both at U20 World Cup).
Under the motto ‘Gemeinsam: Gutes Spiel’ (Together: Good game) Bayer 04 are sending out a message for sustainability as part of the DFB campaign matchday. In joint action, the clubs in the third tier and the Women's Bundesliga are standing up to their commitment to society, responsible management and the protection of the planet. All holders of tickets for the game at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be supporting a good cause on Sunday: Bayer 04 will donate two euros per ticket sold to the Leverkusen Women's Emergency Line, who will have an information stand at the stadium.
Tickets for the game can be bought HERE online or from the ticket office on the day of the match. This season, for the first time, there will be allocated seats, which are shown on the tickets. As usual, the match will be broadcast live by the streaming services MagentaSport and DAZN.
The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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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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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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