
The BayArena was lit up in purple for several hours on Tuesday night. For the fifth year in succession, Bayer 04 sent out a colourful signal for World Prematurity Day to raise awareness of the subject of premature births and the associated consequences for children and parents. In Germany, around 60,000 children are born premature every year. The Leverkusen Clinic, with an association with Bayer 04 for many years, is considered to be one of the most experienced maternity clinics in the region with 1,600 births per year. Over 80 premature babies weighing less than 1,500 grammes – including 40 premature babies weighing less than a thousand grammes – were cared for at the Leverkusen Clinic last year. Due to the especially high quality of care, even the smallest premature babies with a birth weight of 500 grammes or less survive. "Strong start for little heroes" is this year's motto for the worldwide information campaign that saw the involvement of the team from the mother and child centre at the Leverkusen Clinic, which is supported by Bayer 04.





Rudi Völler will be the guest on the Sky 90 TV programme on Sunday 22 November. In his weekly talk show, Patrick Wasserzier discusses the Bundesliga matchday for 90 minutes – the Werkself game away to Arminia Bielefeld will also be a topic for discussion. It starts at 11.30 CET – live and available for free on Sky Sport News HD as well as on a live stream at skysport.de.
The last international break of this year is slowly but surely drawing to a close. Only two Werkself players are in action with their national teams on Wednesday night: In the Nations League, Julian Baumgartlinger is set to play for Austria against Norway. Due to suspension, Aleksandar Dragovic left the Austria team at the weekend and is now training with the Werkself again after a negative coronavirus test on Tuesday. Keeper Lukas Hradecky with Finland is in Wales also in the Nations League. Both matches kick-off at 20.45 CET and are live on DAZN. Lucas Alario has already been able to set off on his return journey. Argentina beat Peru 2-0 overnight in a World Cup qualifier but our number 13 did not play.
Autumn is time for pumpkins, thought Alexander Wagner, head chef with the Werkself, and he has prepared a tasty pasta dish with pumpkin sauce together with the Bayer 04 health partner, BERGISCHE KRANKENKASSE. A genuine athletes dish as Wagner revealed as when he's cooking for the Peter Bosz team, he particularly pays attention to sufficient carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins. In this video he shows the preparation step-by-step and the recipe is available to print in the comments section.
Black and Red congratulations on your 59th birthday, Alois Reinhardt. Never to be forgotten is his winning goal in the semi-final first leg of the 1988 UEFA Cup tie against Werder Bremen that also secured a place in the final after a goalless second leg. Reinhardt played for Bayer 04 from 1984 to 1991 and he also played for Germany while he was under the Bayer Cross.

Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
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He’s done it: Patrik Schick also found the back of the net in Bayer 04’s 2–1 win over SC Freiburg on Matchday six of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season – a club record! In what was a high-quality match from the word go, the Werkself were briefly rattled by the visitors’ opener from Derry Scherhant in the 14th minute but fought back with an equaliser from Ibrahim Maza just six minutes later. In the second half, the Black and Reds took control on their home turf and secured a well-earned win through record-holder Schick. In doing do, the Werkself inflicted the first defeat of the season on the club from the Black Forest.
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It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
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Under Carles Martínez, the Werkself have so far proved unbeatable at the BayArena. The Spaniard has led his team to victory in all three of their most recent home matches – and, it's worth noting, without conceding a single goal. On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST / live on DAZN and Werkself Radio), current league leaders SC Freiburg will make the trip to Leverkusen, but will be without their top scorer. What's more, the Werkself have won all three of their previous home matches against the Black Forest club. With a goal, Patrik Schick could not only secure a fourth consecutive victory but also set a memorable record. Meanwhile, on what will be the ‘Health Day' at the BayArena, much of the focus will be on physical wellbeing. Today's matchday news.
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