Can Bayer 04 qualify for the second final in succession and the sixth overall? Or will Arminia cause a shock on their own turf and go through to the final in Berlin on their fourth semi-final appearance? The Werkself have won the previous three meetings in the DFB Pokal (1997/97, 2012/13, 2013/14). Number four can happily come tonight...
In the history of the DFB Pokal, Arminia Bielefeld are only the second club to have reached the semi-finals twice without being in the top two divisions alongside FC Saarbrücken (2019/20 and 2023/24). Bielefeld previously reached this stage in 2014/15. The potential semi-final win against Bayer 04 would make Arminia Bielefeld the fourth third tier team to reach the final (Hertha Berlin Reserves 1992/93, Energie Cottbus 1996/97 and Union Berlin 2000/01).
The Werkself overcame Regional League FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1-0 in the first round, then beat second tier SV 07 Elversberg 3-0 at home in the second round and the Round of 16 saw the 1-0 victory against the record Pokal winners Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. The Black and Reds beat FC Köln in a spectacular game at home in the quarter-finals with a 3-2 win after extra time.
Arminia Bielefeld have knocked three top-flight clubs out of the competition. They started in the first round with a 2-0 win against second division Hannover 96, in the second round the team led by coach Mitch Kniat achieved the same result against Union Berlin. SC Freiburg lost 3-1 at the SchücoArena at the start of September last year. In the quarter-finals held a month ago Arminia beat Werder Bremen 2-1.
The team from Bielefeld are currently fourth in the third division and have justified hopes of promotion as they are only one point behind third-placed FC Saarbrücken with eight games to play. They are also within reach of claiming a direct promotion slot for Bundesliga 2. Why? Arminia have been the most prolific team in the Rückrunde with 21 goals scored and have only conceded 32 goals in the previous 30 games, which is less than any other team. Further information on today's opponents can be found in our lowdown on the next opponents.
3,200 Bayer 04 fans will be at the SchücoArena to support the Werkself in this midwek Pokal tie.
The referee for tonight's match is Harm Osmers. The 40-year-old has previously been in charge of 18 games involving the Werkself (11 wins, four draws, three defeats). His assistants are Dominik Schaal and Stefan Lupp with Johann Pfeifer in action as the VAR..
The knockout tie will be broadcast live on free to air channel ARD and on Sky. 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.
Two keepers, lots of questions: Werkself captain Lukas Hradecky and U19 goalkeeper Jesper Schlich visited the BarmeniaGothaer children’s press conference in partnership with the Bayer 04 Lions Club on Wednesday afternoon. The duo faced interesting and at times unusual questions from around 50 inquisitive young journalists in the press conference room at the BayArena.
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A large number of sporting directors and officials from big clubs across Europe came to the BayArena on Tuesday for the second seminar in the UEFA Sporting Director Programme (SDP) in cooperation with the ECA.
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Full-back Janou Levels will leave Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the end of the season. The 24-year-old has activated her release clause and she will join Bundesliga rivals VfL Wolfsburg. She has signed a three-year contract.
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After returning from Hamburg and a day off on Easter Monday, the Werkself players were back on the training ground at the BayArena on Tuesday morning. Following the session, Amine Adli was very positive in a media interview about the remaining four matches including the forthcoming home game against FC Augsburg (Saturday, 26 April, 15:30 CEST): "We will give our all to end the season as well as we can!"
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