The second ball pulled out in the DFB Cup draw by the former ski jumper Sven Hannawald had two names on it: Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Eintracht Frankfurt. The second round tie was postponed at the request of the Werkself from the end of December to 12 January (kick-off: 20.45 CET) but the opponents in the Round of 16 are now confirmed. The winners of the Bundesliga clash will play Rot-Weiss Essen in the last 32. The league leaders in the Regional League West are the only fourth-tier club left in the competition having beaten Bundesliga newcomers Arminia Bielefeld (1-0) and relegated Fortuna Düsseldorf (3-2).
The Round of 16 ties will be played on 2 and 3 February. The quarter-finals are at the start of March and the semi-finals at the beginning of May. The final at the Olympic Stadium is on 13 May.
The other Round of 16 ties: VfL Wolfsburg v FC Schalke 04, Jahn Regensburg v FC Köln, VfB Stuttgart v Borussia Mönchengladbach, Werder Bremen v Greuther Fürth, RB Leipzig v VfL Bochum, Borussia Dortmund v SC Paderborn, Holstein Kiel/Bayern Munich v Darmstadt 98.
Rudi Völler was a guest on the football talk show Doppelpass on Sport1 on Sunday morning. On the programme, also involving former players Sandro Wagner and Stefan Effenberg, the sporting managing director discussed the start of the new calendar year for the Werkself. The 60-year-old was talking after 2-1 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt the day before: “We deserved to lose yesterday. We’re starting a new week in training and we’ll be back on it against Bremen on Saturday.”
The two defeats in succession – the first in the current Bundesliga campaign – would not “throw the Werkself off course,” added Völler. “We want to stay at the top. Our primary target is to get back in the Champions League.”
The Doppelpass broadcast with Rudi Völler will soon be available free of charge on sport1.de.
And here is another Black and Red TV tip: Karim Bellarabi was a guest on the Sky broadcast ‘My story – the life of…’. The 25-minute edition with the Leverkusen winger was available free of charge on Sky Sport News HD on Sunday afternoon. The programme will be shown again on Monday night at 22.30 CET and repeated on Monday evening at 19.00 CET. In addition, the Bellarabi programme is now available on sport.sky.de HERE.
Riccardo Basile, the presenter on the Sky programme, goes behind the scenes with professional sports personalities. The personal stories away from the pitch are centre stage.
Special sports class for enthusiastic primary school children: as part of the first action day of the Bayer 04 campaign ‘District Matchdays’ in the 2024/25 season, Werkself players Vanessa Haim and Estrella Merino Gonzalez visited the KGS Thomas-Morus-Schule in Schlebusch on Wednesday afternoon and led a lesson in the gym. This was anything but an unusual situation for summer signing Haim.
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Along with Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord have for many years been amongst the top three clubs in Dutch football. After winning the league title for the 16th time in the club's history year ago, Feyenoord finished last season as runners-up. Now the club from the port city face the champions of Germany on matchday one in the UEFA Champions League 2024/25. Bayer 04 can expect a rough ride at the cauldron of the De Kuip stadium on Thursday, 19 September (kick-off: 18.45 CEST). The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Ahead of the opening match in the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 away to top Dutch club Feyenoord on Thursday, 19 September (kick-off: 18.45 CEST), the Bayer 04 Fan Liaison team has all the info you need for the match at Feyenoord's De Kuip stadium…
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The Bayer 04 Women's team play newly promoted Turbine Potsdam in the Round of 16 in the DFB Pokal. That was the outcome of the draw held on Monday night. The match will be played between 22 and 24 November with details to be confirmed.
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