In jüngster Vergangenheit lieferten sich die Werkself und der VfB Stuttgart immer wieder hochklassige und hart umkämpfte Duelle. Die Schwaben lag in jedem der fünf Pflichtspiele unter Sebastien Hoeneß gegen Bayer 04 zwischenzeitlich in Führung. Am Ende aber gab es entweder ein Remis oder die Werkself hatte die Nase vorn. Leverkusen ist unter anderem deswegen seit 13 Duellen gegen den VfB ungeschlagen. Und überhaupt holte Stuttgart aus den vergangenen 27 Pflichtspielen gegen Schwarz-Rot nur einen Sieg.
Außergewöhnlich ist zudem dieser Fakt: Die heutige Begegnung mit den Schwaben ist die fünfte innerhalb der letzten elf Monate und darüber hinaus die vierte in Folge, die in Leverkusen stattfindet (nach Rückrunden-Spiel, DFB-Pokal-Viertelfinale, Supercup).
The eighth-placed team (on twelve points, three behind Bayer 04) come to Leverkusen in confident mood. They have recently won three games on the bounce. Three important points in the UEFA Champions League away to Juventus (1-0) was followed by a 2-1 win in the Bundesliga against Holstein Kiel and a couple of days ago a 2-1 victory in the DFB Pokal against FC Kaiserslautern. The league win against newly promoted Kiel was the 29th win in 50 Bundesliga games for Sebastian Hoeneß as the coach at VfB Stuttgart. He has thereby equalled a club record with no other VfB coach winning more often in their first 50 games. Further information on VfB can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
The City of Leverkusen asks all spectators coming to today's Bundesliga game to travel by public transport, bicycle or on foot. Further information (in German) can be found HERE on the Stadt Leverkusen website.
Mouth open, swab in, become a donor – and then get behind the Werkself! The charity organisation Nordkurve karitativ, in partnership with DKMS (German Bone Marrow Donor Registry), are holding a stem cell donor registration event at the home game against VfB Stuttgart. The aim is motivate as many fans as possible to register as a stem cell donor with DKMS. The donor registration event will be held in front of blocks B, C, D, E and F where there will also be a stand providing information on organ donations. Further information is available HERE.
Anyone wanting to discover the latest information ahead of the cup tie can take a look at the new Werkself Live. The matchday magazine, that includes key facts and stats on the match, is available at the BayArena. Alternatively it is available free online. HERE is the e-paper.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Daniel Siebert for tonight's match. The 40-year-old referee has previously been in charge of 25 games involving the Werkself (ten wins, seven draws, eight defeats). Siebert's assistants today are Jan Seidel and Rafael Foltyn with Benjamin Cortus in action as the VAR.
The match will be broadcast live on DAZN. As ever, supporters unable to be at the match can follow the game on Werkself Radio. The audio broadcast starts 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Niko Hartmann and Cedric Pick. In addition, the live text update service will keep fans up-to-date. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
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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A top encounter at the start of Bundesliga Matchday 9: The Werkself entertain VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena on Friday, 1 November (kick-off: 20.30 CET/live on DAZN and the Werkself Radio). At the pre-match press conference, head coach Xabi Alonso talked about the always exciting clashes with the Swabians and the clean sheet problem in the Bundesliga.
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The derby kicks off Matchday 8 in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga: The Werkself are away to next-to-bottom FC Köln at the Franz Kremer Stadium on Friday, 1 November (kick-off: 18.30 CET). Head coach Roberto Pätzold is in optimistic mood ahead of the game despite the late return of several international players.
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VfB Stuttgart have not beaten Bayer 04 in 13 games. Nevertheless, the two teams have played close and high quality games in recent years – most recently in the Supercup in August. The Swabian team will be looking to confirm their current good form at the BayArena on Friday night, 1 November (kick-off: 20.30 CET). The team currently eighth in the table head to Leverkusen with a lot of confidence after three wins in succession. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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