The last meeting of the two teams is well remembered by everybody at Bayer 04. In the qualifying rounds for the Champions League in August 2015, the Werkself won 3-0 at the BayArena with goals from Hakan Calhanoglu, Admir Mehmedi and Karim Bellarabi. A 1-0 defeat in the second leg saw Bayer 04 progress to the group stage. An eminently important victory against a strong opponent who finished last season in third place in the Serie A just one point behind rivals AS Roma and ahead of clubs like Fiorentina, Napoli plus Inter and AC Milan – the best league finish since the second title win in the club's history in 2000.
At the turn-of-the-century, Lazio were a top European team with stars like Alessandro Nesta, Pavel Nedved and Juan Sebastián Verón under Sven-Göran Eriksson who went on to be the England manager. In 1999 they were the last team to win the European Cup Winners Cup. In the championship winning season came the first two matches between the 'Biancoceleste' and Bayer 04. The two clubs met in the group stage of the Champions League with the ties producing two 1-1 draws – the only two points dropped in the group stage by Lazio who went through to the quarter-finals.
Lazio in the Europa League
The team from the Italian capital are on the European stage again this season. Last season's fifth-place finish under coach Simone Inzaghi, younger brother of the Italian legend striker Filippo Inzaghi, are in the Europa League in 2017/18. Stars of the team include the sought after striker Keita Baldé, defender Stefan de Vrij and the two Brazilian midfielders Felipe Anderson and Lucas Leiva. The latter joined the club last week after ten years at Liverpool.
Fans of the Bundesliga will also be familiar with Ciro Immobile. The central striker, who played for Borussia Dortmund in 2014/2015, joined Lazio last summer to take over the arduous mantle from Miroslav Klose, who scored 63 goals for the Roman side between 2011 and 2016. Before the record goalscorer for Germany, who became a crowd favourite in the Eternal City, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Karl-Heinz Riedle and Thomas Doll all wore the shirt with the Lazio eagle on the chest.
Season launch with match against Celta Vigo
The Werkself head home directly after the final whistle in Grödig. The next and last friendly in the pre-season is against Spanish top-flight side Celta Vigo at the season launch at the BayArena on 5 August.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04’s 3-0 win against SV 07 Elversberg in the 2nd round of the 2024/25 DFB Pokal…
The Werkself are away to Union Berlin on Bundesliga Matchday 12. The game is on Saturday, 30 November, at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei with the kick-off at 15.30 CET. Here is the latest ticket information for the game.
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Bayer 04’s focus has quickly turned to their next game as they prepare to host Elversberg in the second round of the DFB Pokal on Tuesday (kick-off: 6pm CET). Ahead of the match, head coach Xabi Alonso spoke about the special nature of the cup, the last time the Werkself faced the now Bundesliga 2 side and the attributes needed for a successful evening at the BayArena.
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Elversberg is far from a new name for Bayer 04 fans in the DFB Pokal. It was only two years ago when the then 3. Liga side knocked the Werkself out of the competition in the first round. Now they come to the BayArena for a second-round encounter as a Bundesliga 2 club on Tuesday (kick-off: 6pm CET). Here’s all you need to know about our next opponents.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have a new sleeve sponsor for their fixtures in the DFB Pokal, with Bayer brand Talcid set to feature on the holders’ shirts for the 2024/25 campaign. The team will play with the new sponsor for the first time in Tuesday’s second-round match at home to Elversberg.
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