First meeting shows the way
Who can remember? The Werkself sprang a surprise on matchday six of the current Bundesliga campaign. Roger Schmidt's team produced an impressive and battling performance to beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0. Admir Mehmedi and Chicharito scored for the Black and Reds.
Dortmund and Leverkusen now meet for the 76th time in the Bundesliga. The eighth-placed team travel to the third-placed side in the Bundesliga: The overall record is completely balanced with 27 wins apiece and 21 draws. And results in recent seasons have not favoured one particular team. Since the start of 2013 the eight league games have produced two draws and three wins each with nine goals for and nine against.
Borussia strong at home
It's not easy to get a result at Dortmund at the moment. Borussia have not lost any of the last 31 home games in the top flight (25 wins, six draws) and they recently extended this club record with a 3-0 victory over Wolfsburg.
Aubameyang and Chicharito on target again
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ended a run of 471 minutes without scoring with a double at Freiburg. He has now scored 73 times for BVB in the Bundesliga and his next strike will put him level with Robert Lewandowski (74 goals). The Werkself striker Chicharito, recently voted Player of the Month of February by @bundesliga_en, is also in good shape: The Mexican has scored five goals in four games since the winter break
#lenomenal
Another player on form is a man who likes to stop people scoring: Bernd Leno. The Werkself number one has saved the most clear goalscoring opportunities of any keeper in the Bundesliga this season (21). Leno will celebrate his 25th birthday on the day of the match against Dortmund. What better present could there be than a clean sheet?
Kießling on Kirsten’s heels
Stefan Kießling has scored seven goals against Borussia Dortmund in 20 Bundesliga matches in a Bayer 04 shirt – the last time he netted against BVB was on the first game of the season in 2014/15 in a 2-0 victory. Only Ulf Kirsten has scored more often against BVB in Leverkusen's club history (eight goals in 22 games).
Chicharito and Kagawa Premier League winners
Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa and Chicharito played together at Manchester United for two seasons. In 2012/13 they were both Premier League winners. In August 2014 Kagawa return to Dortmund. Chicharito went out on loan to Real Madrid at the same time and followed the Japanese player to the Bundesliga year later when he signed for Bayer 04.
The Schwadbud is open
The Schwadbud opens its doors at 13.30 CET on Saturday for any fans not travelling to Dortmund with the match being broadcast on 20 plus screens. The popular fan pub gives Werkself supporters the chance to meet up with fellow fans. Tables cannot be reserved so it's a matter of first come, first served.
LIVE action via the LIVE App
The Bayer 04 live app, voted as one of the most innovative apps by a large app blog, is raring to go. You can download the app to follow the Werkself at bit.ly/b04live
Contributions to social media can be made using the hashtag #BVBB04.
After Jens Nowotny was officially named a Bayer 04 honorary captain last weekend, the long-standing Werkself player is part of the Leverkusen delegation on the trophy tour to New York City next week from 11 to 14 September. In an interview with bayer04.de, the 50-year-old talked about his expectations ahead of the trip to the metropolis on the East Coast of the USA.
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