Before the start of the season, Charles Aránguiz took over the captain’s armband from Lars Bender, who gave up the role after five years. Peter Bosz has opted for a defensive duo as the vice-captains for the Chilean as the 56-year-old announced on Thursday night at the press conference after the 6-2 victory over Nice in the Europa League. Lars or Sven Bender will captain the team this season if the South America midfielder is unavailable. That happened in the second half at Mainz (1-0) and against Nice. For those 135 minutes, the armband was again worn by Lars, the older twin brother by a few minutes.
The Werkself team committee this season is made up of six players. The skipper and his two vice-captains are joined by experienced player Julian Baumgartlinger, Germany international Jonathan Tah and Wendell.
The 6-2 scoreline against Nice was not only a more than successful start to the new Europa League campaign but also the biggest win for Bayer 04 on the European stage. “I’m happy with the result,” said Bosz. Moreover: The Werkself are now unbeaten in 13 European games at the BayArena. And hopefully that will continue on 26 November against Hapoel Be’er Sheva – the Israelis sprang a surprise with their 3-1 win against Slavia Prague in their opening game on Thursday night.
As usual, UEFA published their top team of the Europa League matchday on Friday afternoon. In addition to Hoffenheim’s Christoph Baumgartner, who opened the scoring in the 2-0 win for TSG against Red Star Belgrade, UEFA also chose two Leverkusen players: Nadiem Amiri and Karim Bellarabi. Congratulations lads - you deserved it!
Daniel Schwaab played as a defender for the Werkself for four years and in his four seasons at Leverkusen (2009 to 2013) he made almost 100 Bundesliga appearances for Bayer 04. After his time under the Bayer Cross, the Waldkirchen-born joined VfB Stuttgart and then moved on to PSV Eindhoven where he played up to the summer. Schwaab has now decided to hang up his boots at the age of 32. “I’ve decided to stop because I want to dedicate myself to new challenges,” said the defender to kicker.
The German Football Association (DFB) wants to provide more transparency with refereeing decisions in the Bundesliga via a Twitter account. From the next matchday, information on intervention by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be published on Twitter at @dfbschiris. This is intended to enable “faster and better understanding of individual decisions.”
Bayer 04 host 1. FC Köln at the BayArena in the final home game of 2025 . Today’s match on Saturday, 13 December kicks off at 18:30.30 pm. The Werkself are looking for three points against 1. FC Köln, who are without a win in four games but they do have a shooting star in their ranks up front. The Bayer 04 Volunteering Award will be presented at the derby against the club from Cologne and another fan club will be honoured for many years of loyalty under the Cross. The matchday news.
Show more
The German Football Association (DFB) has officially recognised Bayer 04 as a women’s talent support centre. As announced by the DFB, 1 FC Köln, Union Berlin, RB Leipzig and Hamburger SV are also certified as performance or talent support centres from 1 January 2026 in addition to the Werkself.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss at Werder Bremen on the 13th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
Show more
Bayer 04 Women suffered a setback at the halfway point of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. In a battle of the chasing pack between the teams in third and fourth, coach Roberto Pätzold's side lost 1-0 at SV Werder Bremen in a physical contest. The result leaves the Werkself on 22 points after 13 matchdays and now four points behind Bremen.
Show more
The Bayer 04 U19s will face Villarreal CF in Spain in the 2025/26 UEFA Youth League round of 16. That was the result of the draw made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Friday afternoon.
Show more
