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.
From the 2027/28 season, the Women’s Bundesliga will be organised by an independent league association. Following the unanimous decision taken at the DFB Bundestag (national conference) on Friday afternoon, the league’s separation from the DFB is now official.
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Following the Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 20 September, 15:30 CEST), some of the Werkself first team players will be heading off for the first international break of the season. Here is an overview of the Bayer 04 players called up for their national teams and all the details of their upcoming matches.
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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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