"After much thought and countless scenarios regarding our future, we have finally come to the decision not to continue our journey with Bayer 04. We felt a responsibility to the club to inform them of this decision in good time," declared the twins in a joint statement. "This decision has been anything but easy not least because of the honest, fair and understanding relationship with the Leverkusen club management in the past and right up to today. Bayer 04 now have time to plan and that was important to us."
Bayer 04 sporting managing director Rudi Völler praised the "exceptional performances of both Bender brothers over the years. There are few players in the Bundesliga like Lars and Sven. They represent football class, extreme professionalism and absolute reliability plus determination and commitment," said Völler. "We need their qualities in the remaining six months to achieve our big targets. Exactly that ambition is evident in both of them who always give 100 per cent right to the end. And regarding Lars, I've hardly seen another player at Leverkusen who has identified so much with Bayer 04. We owe Lars a huge amount of gratitude."
The two 31-year-olds specifically expressed their close connection to Bayer 04. "At the end of the day, it was not a decision against the club but about health and family. We recognise it will be difficult to play football at this high level beyond the summer. Anybody who knows us, also knows we give 100 per cent every day. For us that has always been the basic requirement in training and in matches. Unfortunately, it's becoming increasingly more difficult for us to perform consistently at that level because of all the pain and physical problems, which are affecting us more and more."
Before ending their careers as Bayer 04 players, Lars and Sven Bender will continue to have the targets of the club as their priority: "Of course, we’ll do all we can to write a successful final chapter here at Leverkusen by ending a very successful season to date with the achievement of our ambitious targets."
And Lars Bender added after eleven years at Leverkusen: "I'll try to enjoy the remaining time and every moment as I have learned to value and love the club and all the wonderful people here. And I was and am proud of being part of the history of Bayer 04."
Once again in the last four! Bayer 04 put in a mature and, for long stretches, commanding performance to defeat a courageous FC St. Pauli in the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the third time in a row. Martin Terrier gave Leverkusen the lead on 32 minutes before Patrik Schick made it 2-0 on 63 minutes. Substitute Jonas Hofmann capped off a strong second half for the Werkself with the third goal in added time.
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The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
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As in the past two years, the Werkself are aiming to come out on top in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals on Tuesday night, 3 February (kick-off: 20:45 CET). With eleven home games in a row without defeat against the Kiezkicker, the Black and Reds go into the floodlit match in confident mood. But the Pokal, as is often said, has its own magic and the team from the Millerntor has much more to offer than the current 17th place in the Bundesliga would suggest. After all, Bayer 04 are one of the big German teams the combative Hamburgers have already made life difficult for this season. The matchday news.
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The Leverkusen eSports team picked up valuable points and made up ground in the overall table with a top four finish in the offline round in Showdown 4 in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In the round of 16, Showdown 1 winners Bayer 04 defeated the unbeaten runners-up in the previous round, VfL Bochum, in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. The Landwehr cousins, themselves the current club runners-up, then beat the current club champions and Showdown 3 winners RB Leipzig. It was not until the semi-finals that they lost out to the eventual showdown winners Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Rafaela Borggräfe. Bayer 04 have signed the goalkeeper on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season. Bayer04.de profiles the 25-year-old.
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