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.
The Bayer 04 U19s got their UEFA Youth League campaign off to a flying start with two wins. After the successful duels with FC Copenhagen (2-0) and PSV Eindhoven (3-2), the top team from Paris Saint-Germain now awaits. The home game against the youngsters of the reigning Champions League winners on Tuesday, 21 October (kick-off: 14:00 CEST/livestream on bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app), at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be a challenge, not least due to several players missing from the Werkself squad - but one that head coach Kevin Brok and his team are happy to accept: "We want to get the maximum out of every game, this time too!"
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After a flawless tournament with only victories in the group and knockout stages, Argentina narrowly missed out on the title at the U20 World Cup in Chile. In the final on Monday night, Bayer 04 player Alejo Sarco and his fellow countrymen lost 2-0 to Morocco. Both goals were scored in the first half of the match played in Santiago de Chile. Sarco played for the first 60 minutes.
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The Werkself suffered their second defeat in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga with two players sent off. Roberto Pätzold's team lost 5-1 at home to VfL Wolfsburg at the end of Matchday 7. Goalkeeper Charlotte Voll saw red in the first minute for a professional foul and Lilla Turanyi was also sent off on 51 minutes. Claudia Wenger scored the only goal for the Black and Reds (46'). With 13 points from seven games, Leverkusen are now fifth in the table, three points behind the Wolves.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without the services of Malik Tillman for the time being. The 23-year-old suffered a thigh injury training with the USA national team during the international break. This was outcome of a medical in Leverkusen. Tillman is expected to be out for around two weeks.
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