Head coach Heiko Herrlich, who along with his players will set off from Cologne airport on Saturday morning for the Iberian Peninsula, is looking for success in the friendly to kick-start the season. "I'd like to see the team perform well so we finish the pre-season in good shape," said the 46-year-old.
The Saturday night match should be entertaining: After two disappointing seasons with the departure of numerous top players and the threat of bankruptcy in the summer of last year, the 'Blanquinegros' ended the La Liga season on a high – just three points behind Real Madrid – in fourth place (points per game 1.9), which sees them return to Europe's premier club competition this term. Thanks to numerous European titles, the club from the south-east of Spain are seen as one of the most successful teams in European club football – however, the last time the club tasted success in the European stage was winning the UEFA Cup in 2004.
One reason for the revival of the White and Blacks, with a bat on the club badge, is down to the coach Marcelino Garcia Toral, known as Marcelino, who has managed to reshape the team in a few months in spite of financial restrictions. The Brazilian relies on a healthy mix of older, mainly unknown pros and young talents from their own academy. Nevertheless, Valencia had the fourth best attack in Spain last season (65 goals) thanks to goals from the Brazilian Rodrigo (27 years old/16 goals), the Italian Simone Zaza (27/13) and the Spaniard Santi Mina (22/12). Beyond that, the squad is one of the youngest in Spain's top-flight with an average age of 25.3 years (as at 9 August 2018).
This will be the first time Bayer 04 have played the Spanish side since 2011. Back then the Black and Reds played Valencia in the group stage of the Champions League. After going a goal down at half-time, the Werkself came back to win 2-1 (with goals from André Schürrle and Sidney Sam) But the return match at the , 'Estadio Mestalla' ended in a 3-1 defeat (goal scored by Stefan Kießling). Lars Bender (pictured above in the game against Valencia at the BayArena) was the only player from the current Werkself squad in the starting line-up seven years ago.
A win on Saturday would see the Werkself start the season with a title win. The two teams meet in the 'Trofeo Naranja', an almost annual tradition of summer cup organised by Valencia.
The second friendly and the first goal for the Bayer 04 Women: The Werkself just missed out on their first win in the preseason away to top-flight Dutch side PEC Zwolle. The team led by coach Roberto Pätzold drew 1-1 on Friday afternoon in Wezep. As with the friendly against TSG Hoffenheim (0-2) a number of first-team players were absent. The coach once again shared out time on the pitch for the 20-player squad. The goal of the match was scored by summer signing Vanessa Fudalla (67').
Show moreContinuity under the Cross: After the successful season in 2024/25 with reaching the final of the VBL Club Championship, the two Leverkusen e-sports players Marc and Sean Landwehr have extended their contracts at Bayer 04 by an additional two years. Marc is thereby in his sixth year and Sean in his third year with the Werkself. Together with e-talent Marcus Hüttemann, who has also extended his stay at Bayer 04 Bayer year, completes the current squad for the 2025/26 season.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have signed centre forward Christian Kofane. The 18-year-old Cameroonian joins Leverkusen from Spanish second tier club Albacete on a contract to 30 June 2029.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen will wear the new away kit for the 2025/26 season at the start of the training camp in Brazil. In conscious contrast to the international aspect of this year's training camp in Rio de Janeiro, kit supplier New Balance has designed a jersey for the Werkself players and all other Bayer 04 teams with distinct links to home.
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