The team under head coach Gerardo Seoane face a quality side in last season's sixth-placed team in the Eredivisie who have established themselves in the top six of the Dutch league in recent years. German football fans will know about the former Hamburg and Bremen player Eljero Elia. The squad under the 49-year-old head coach René Hake is made up – as is usual in the Netherlands – of several experienced players (Urby Emanuelson, Adam Maher) as well as a lot of youngsters. The Utrecht goalkeeper is Eric Oelschlägel, twice a Super Cup winner with Borussia Dortmund and the only German player in the team.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the capacity at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium is 350 and all the tickets have already been sold. Fans were able to buy tickets for five euros with the proceeds going to the 'Leverkusen hilft' campaign organised by the Leverkusen community foundation, which is supporting victims of the floods financially.
Bayer 04 are broadcasting the second friendly for the Seoane team, with new signing Odilon Kossounou set to make his first appearance, live on the club's YouTube channel. The broadcast begins at 15.50 CEST with Niko Hartmann of Werkself Radio providing the commentary. Former Werkself keeper Ramazan 'Rambo' Özcan will share his assessment of the friendly and also talk about his new role as U19 goalkeeping coach at Bayer 04 at half-time.
HERE is the link to the live stream on YouTube.
A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Bayer 04 U19s have extended their winning run with a fifth consecutive victory on Matchday 5 of the DFB Youth League’s preliminary round. Coach Patrick Greveraars’ side secured a 3–2 (2–1) win in their match against second-placed FC Viktoria Köln, with Burak Kir and Nebe Domnic scoring for the hosts in the first half before captain Ben Hawighorst found the net after the break.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without defender Guéla Doué for the time being. The Ivory Coast international sustained a muscle injury to his right calf during the final Werkself training session yesterday ahead of the Europa League clash with Slovenian champions NK Celje.
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For the first time since reaching the final against AS Roma (2–2, first leg 2–0) in May 2024, Bayer 04 are playing another home match in the UEFA Europa League – and they will be wearing their new European kit. On Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), the BayArena will welcome Slovenian champions NK Celje, who appointed a new coach this week following a mixed start to the season. Under the slogan “40 Years Across Europe. Still Creating History.”, the Black and Reds now aim to add the next chapter to their European history, which has seen so much success in recent years. Bayer 04 fans can follow the match on free-to-air TV on RTL, as well as on Sky and Werkself Radio. The matchday news.
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European football returns to the BayArena: Bayer 04 host Slovenian champions NK Celje on matchday 1 in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. Ahead of the match on Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez and midfielder Aleix Garcia spoke at the pre-match press conference. The focus was primarily on the great anticipation surrounding the competition and the clear objectives for it – and, given the circumstances, on a last-minute change to the opposition line-up.
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