The BayArena was lit up in purple on Thursday evening. For the seventh year in succession, Bayer 04 have again lit up a coloured beacon to raise awareness of the subject of premature birth and the associated effects on children and parents on World Prematurity Day. Every tenth child is born prematurely. The Klinikum Leverkusen, for many years associated with Bayer 04, is one of the most experienced maternity hospitals in the region with 1,600 births per year. Over 80 premature babies under 1,500 grammes – including 40 premature babies under 1,000 grammes – receive medical care at the Klinikum Leverkusen every year.
Thanks to the extremely high quality of care, even the smallest premature babies with a birthweight of 500 grammes or less can survive. Many other buildings across the globe such as the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building have been lit up in purple in recent years as part of World Prematurity Day.
The Bayer 04 group today (Friday) set off home at the end of the #Bayer04USATour. Jonathan Tah and Co. have enjoyed a range of activities in St. Louis in Missouri since last Sunday 13 November. In addition to two training sessions, the players visited the Bayer AG research centre in Chesterfield. A guided tour through the legendary Busch Stadium, home to the baseball team St. Louis Cardinals, and watching college basketball match were on the Werkself agenda as well. They were also involved in community projects and a cultural programme during the tour.
The sporting highlight came on Wednesday 17 November with the friendly between the Werkself and St Louis CITY SC, a new club in the Major League Soccer (MLS). The friendly played at the brand-new CITYPARK Stadium ended in a 3-0 victory for the team led by head coach Xabi Alonso. The Werkself experiences on the #B04USATour can be found HERE.
Talking about Alonso: The 2010 World Cup winner can be happy with an impressive statistic. Since taking over as head coach of the Werkself at the beginning of October, the Spaniard has coached the team from Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on seven matchdays – the record: four wins, one draw and two defeats. These games include victories against Schalke 04 (4-0), Union Berlin (5-0), FC Köln (2-1) and VfB Stuttgart (2-0). That makes the Black and Reds the fourth best team in the last seven Bundesliga matchdays with three wins in succession most recently and there has only been one defeat in all competitions in the last seven matches – may that continue.
The former Werkself player Alois Reinhardt today celebrates his 61st birthday. The former central defender joined Leverkusen from FC Nürnberg in 1984 and he went on to make 189 appearances the Black and Reds up to his departure in 1991. During his time under the Bayer Cross, the former Germany international won the UEFA Cup in 1987/88. Reinhardt was in the starting line-up in both legs of the final of the competition against Espanyol. Bayer 04 wish Alois a happy birthday.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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