After yesterday afternoon's final pre-match training session, the Werkself headed 70 kilometres north to the team hotel close to Mönchengladbach station. In the evening there was communal meal and team meeting. Breakfast on Wednesday is followed by a walk, lunch, rest plus a small snack before the team bus brings the Werkself to Borussia Park at around five o'clock. The Cup tie kicks off 90 minutes later with Manuel Gräfe the man in the middle with the whistle.
The Werkself will play their final competitive match of the year in the red kit. That's been lucky for Bayer 04 recently: In addition to the second round Cup tie against Union Berlin, Herrlich's team have played nine out of 19 games in red this season – only one ended in defeat (1-2 at Hertha Berlin). The record in numbers: five wins, three draws.
The Werkself and Gladbach have faced each other twice in 2017: The Black and Reds suffered a home defeat in the Bundesliga (2-3) and almost exactly two months to the day – on matchday nine in the current league campaign – Herrlich and his men enjoyed an impressive 'Oktoberfest' at Gladbach. For Kevin Volland, Julian Brandt and Co., the 5-1 win was not only the first away victory of the season but also set the Werkself on course for the rest of the season to date. Moreover: On that 21 October, Bayer 04 played in red. But, that's enough about superstition.
There is room for improvement in the DFB Cup record for Bayer 04 in matches against Borussia Mönchengladbach: The two clubs meet for the seventh time in the DFB Cup this evening. When the two sides first met in 1971/72, the Werkself played in the second division and they went out of the Cup over two legs. Since promotion to the Bundesliga, there have been four other ties with Gladbach winning once after 90 minutes, once after extra time and twice on penalties. To date, the only win for Bayer 04 in the DFB Cup against the Rhine rivals was on 20 September 1995 – Holger Fach and Ulf Kirsten score the goals in a 2-0 win.
Please note, dear friends of the Werkself. Borussia appear to be vulnerable in home cup ties: Mönchengladbach have been knocked out in the last three home games in the DFB Cup – and each time against another Bundesliga club. In total, Gladbach have only won two of theiir last eight home ties in the Cup. Bayer 04 could not only take confidence from the successful run of 13 matches without defeat but also the fact they have only lost two of the last eleven away games in the Cup – both on penalties. Moreover, Bayer 04 are always good for an away goal in this competition: Since August 2007, the Werkself have scored at least one goal in all 21 Cup away games (67 in total).
The Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich has won the DFB Cup twice as a player: In 1993 with Bayer 04 and two years later with his new club Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the 1991/92 season, the former Bayer 04 striker scored in the semi-final against Borussia. With the sides level at 2-2 after 120 minutes, it came down to a penalty shootout with the Gladbach keeper Uwe Kamps excelling by saving four Leverkusen penalties. "Back then I was one of the four glorious penalty takers who missed," recalled Herrlich with subdued irony at yesterday's pre-match press conference before adding: "So it would be good to go there tomorrow and get through to the next round." We agree with the boss.
Christmas is a good time for catching up – with family and friends. the Cup tie at Gladbach may bring a reunion with two former members of the Werkself family: One is Christoph Kramer, who was at Bayer 04 from 1999 to 2006 and 2008 to 2016. The other is Josip Drmic, who played for Leverkusen in 2014/15 before moving on to Mönchengladbach.
The Werkself match in the Cup will only be broadcast on Sky. One other option for following the action is provided by the Bayer 04 social media channels and live text commentary on www.bayer04.de – fans can discover background information on the game from one hour before kick-off. Anybody wanting to watch at least 90 minutes in the company of fellow Werkself fans can see the match at the Schwadbud at the BayArena (East Stand).
The last home game of the season for the Bayer 04 Women against RB Leipzig on Saturday (12:00 CEST) will be a special experience for fans. As part of the family matchday, Bayer 04 are offering fans a wide-ranging programme of events in and around the Ulrich Haberland Stadium similar to the game against Werder Bremen. This will include three special prizes for supporters to win.
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Bayer 04 claimed a comfortable 2-0 win against Augsburg in their penultimate home game of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Patrik Schick and Emiliano Buendia got the goals in the first half.
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Bayer 04 host Augsburg at the BayArena this Saturday for Matchday 31 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game against the 10th-placed Bavarians, including the ‘Finally Red’ fan campaign.
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The first of the Werkself’s remaining 04 fixtures of this season comes on Saturday at home to Augsburg (kick-off: 3.30pm CEST). Ahead of the Matchday 31 encounter, head coach Xabi Alonso reflected on previous weeks, spoke about goals for the remainder of the campaign and also Jonathan Tah.
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Augsburg have enjoyed an excellent run of form this year and come to the BayArena on Saturday (kick-off: 3.30pm CEST) full of confidence as they take on the Werkself. Jess Thorup’s team boast one of the meanest defences in the Bundesliga and harbour real hope of securing European qualification this season. Here’s all you need to know about our next opponents.
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