Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH’s professional team have been playing in the top flight since 1979 and are one of the few teams that have never been relegated from the Bundesliga. Particularly since the second half of the 1990s, the Werkself have played an increasingly important role in the first division, finishing in second place four times around the turn of the millennium. The legend of ‘Vizekusen’ was born – a name rendered meaningless since their record-breaking 2023/24 season.

As well as reaching the Europa League final, Bayer finally won the league and cup double, and with it became the only team to date to have survived a Bundesliga season undefeated.

Now, less than two years later, however, a new era is already underway in Leverkusen. The successful coach, Xabi Alonso, left for Madrid, and Erik ten Hag, his designated successor, was history after just a few weeks. Kasper Hjulmand is currently at the helm on the Leverkusen touchline, but he has to rely on a completely revamped squad. In addition to attacking prodigy, Florian Wirtz, the club's management also let go of winger Jeremie Frimpong, midfield maestro Granit Xhaka, defensive leader Jonathan Tah and captain Lukas Hradecky, among others. These five players alone made 1,174 appearances during their time at Bayer and are now to be replaced by players such as Malik Tillman, Jarell Quansah, Eliesse Ben Seghir, Loïc Badé and Equi Fernández. The Rhinelanders filled the goalkeeper position with Mark Flekken, who is already familiar with the Bundesliga from his time at SC Freiburg.

In the 15 competitive matches between the two sides so far, the Rhinelanders have the upper hand with nine wins and five draws compared to just one victory for Union. Most recently, Union took a point from the BayArena in April this year with a 0-0 draw.

Union will meet a familiar face on Saturday in Robert Andrich, although it remains to be seen whether he will be on or off the pitch, following the midfielder’s recent injury. Andrich - now an integral part of the German national team - played 66 competitive matches for Union between 2019 and 2021 before moving to Leverkusen.

Union's coaching team will have to do without Livan Burcu, Andrik Markgraf and Robert Skov on Saturday.

“We want to show in Leverkusen that we have addressed during training the things that were not optimal against HSV. We will travel there with a clear focus and want to give a strong performance as a team. Despite the upheaval, the Werkself have enormous individual quality and as a team are will continue to stabilise as a team. It is all the more important that we focus on ourselves and bring in our strengths to make the game as successful as possible.” 

For the match in Leverkusen, around 2,500 Unioner will travel to the Rhineland. The Union-Fahr-Zeughaus will also be on site. Information regarding the visit to the stadium can be found here.