The third of these charity matches saw the Schumacher & Friends team beat the Nowitzki All-Stars 7-5. Mick Schumacher, the captain of his team, scored to make it 2-0 by beating Dirk Nowitzki. The basketball legend played alternately in goal with Jens Lehmann, who was also on penalty duty – albeit with a shot against the bar. The list of goalscorers included Bayer 04 legend Stefan Kießling and Ulf Kirsten and Torben Hoffmann netted a hat-trick. Simon Rolfes, Fredi Bobic (Eintracht Frankfurt sporting director), Maxi Kleber (basketball) Moritz Fürste (hockey), Stefan Kretzschmar (Handball), Leon Draisatil (ice hockey), Fabian Hambüchen (gymnastics) and a host of other athletes, including para-athletes, made up the two sides.
Pietro Lombardi was also amongst the goalscorers and, after the trophy was presented, he performed two of his songs 'Señorita' and 'Phenomenal'. There was also music at half-time for the 11,028 spectators provided by Lucas Rieger. Dirk Nowitzki and Mick Schumacher received a cheque in the sum of €100,000 for the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation and the Keep Fighting Foundation and afterwards they spent over an hour signing autographs for the fans at the BayArena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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The next footballing highlight is just around the corner: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the tournament, will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and feature 48 teams for the first time. Bayer04.de has all the latest on the Werkself players called up to represent their countries.
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While the majority of the Bayer 04 Women are enjoying their summer break, nine Werkself players will be on duty for their national teams in the coming days. Three of them are competing for a place at the World Cup, while six are involved in two friendlies with the Germany U23 team.
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