Immediately before kick-off, the managing directors Fernando Carro and Rudi Völler plus sporting director Simon Rolfes will honour the brothers Lars and Sven Bender for their services to the Werkself. The twins have decided to end their impressive careers next week at the end of the current Bundesliga season.
Sven Elsinger also ends his time at Leverkusen. The head of the physiotherapy section leaves Bayer 04 after 13 years to concentrate on his practice back home in Hessen.
Bayer 04 are saving a special accolade for Lars Bender for a later date. After twelve years in a Leverkusen shirt, including five as captain, the 32-year-old Bender has been named a Werkself honorary captain. "We will only make the official presentation when we can hopefully have spectators back at the BayArena next season and give Lars the celebratory and emotional stage he deserves," said Rudi Völler.
Lars Bender will then join Rüdiger Vollborn, Carsten Ramelow, Ulf Kirsten, Bernd Schneider, Simon Rolfes and Stefan Kießling as the seventh honorary captain at Bayer 04 Leverkusen. "It is difficult to imagine a professional footballer having greater identification with a club than Lars does with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. His loyalty and his attitude over the years were exceptional. We owe huge gratitude to Lars," declared Fernando Carro.
Ahead of the home game against Union Berlin, Lars Bender sends an emotional message to the Bayer 04 family in the BayArena Aktuell magazine. Click HERE for the free digital edition.
The Werkself welcome FC Augsburg to the BayArena on Bundesliga matchday 30 in the 2025/26 season. The match on Saturday, 18 April kicks off at 15:30 CEST. Bayer 04 have organised a family matchday with exclusive offers for parents and children. Information on ticket sales.
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The Werkself host VfL Wolfsburg at the BayArena on matchday 28 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The match is on Saturday, 4 April, with the kick-off at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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It was the end of the road for the #B04eSports team against SC Freiburg. Marc and Sean Landwehr were narrowly defeated by the top favourites in the quarter-finals of the VBL Club Championship Final 2025/26. After a success in the first 1v1 game (4-2) and a subsequent defeat (0-4), the overall goals tally ultimately decided who progressed to the semi-finals in the clash against the league leaders from the previous phase.
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There was end-to-end action with both teams giving nothing away in Bayer 04's 3-3 draw at SC Freiburg that was a great advert for Bundesliga football. However, Leverkusen were by no means satisfied with the result after the hosts equalised late on. The Werkself review provides the latest information on the intense clash in Freiburg.
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