During the summer break, Leon Bailey attended a birthday party for Ussain Bolt in his home country. The star sprinter tested positive for coronavirus shortly after that and the Werkself player then had to spend two weeks in self-isolation as a contact. But Bailey is now finally back on the pitch at the BayArena – and he clearly appears to be happy about that:
The Werkself – logically without Bailey in the squad – started the Bundesliga season with a 0:0 draw at VfL Wolfsburg. While the Wolves had the upper hand in terms of shots on goal (nine) compared with the Black and Reds (seven), the Werkself had more completed passes (82%) and also more possession (59%). However, neither side were able to score on Sunday night – for the first time in the 47th competitive meeting between VfL and Bayer 04.
Due to the first international break of the season, the Bayer 04 Women did not have a game at the weekend. In contrast, there was action at Kurtekotten: The U19s suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Borussia Mönchengladbach. The Leverkusen U17s picked up a point away to Fortuna Köln in a 2-2. The other youth results from the weekend are available HERE.
In the morning instead of the evening: Pay-TV channel Sky will now broadcast its football show Sky90 at 11.30 CET in the new Bundesliga season. In addition to the slot, the format will in future also be broadcast on free TV on Sky Sport News. The Werkself could be under discussion next Sunday, 27 September. Head coach Peter Bosz and his players are at home to RB Leipzig at the BayArena the day before at 15.30 CET.
It was the biggest triumph in his career as a professional footballer: In his first season at Bayer 04, Andrzej Buncol celebrated winning the UEFA Cup with the Werkself in 1988. The Pole spent five years at Leverkusen playing in over 120 games. After hanging up his boots in 1997 he went into coaching. Buncol has been youth coach at Bayer 04 for over a decade and the players he helped to develop at Kurtekotten include Kai Havertz. He is 61 today. Bayer 04 wish him a very happy birthday.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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