Match action returns this week. The Werkself have not had a long break. But that will not diminish the anticipation for the Europa League, which restarts this week. All was quiet at the BayArena on Monday but Peter Bosz will welcome his players back to the training ground on Tuesday and Wednesday. Ahead of the final pre-match training session before the Rangers game on Wednesday, Peter Bosz and a Werkself player will field questions from journalists in a virtual press conference.
It’s 144 days since the Round of 16 first leg away to Glasgow Rangers. All the same: Thanks to the 3-1 win at Ibrox Stadium, the Werkself are in a good position to go through to the knockout tournament. The Bosz team would face either Inter Milan or Getafe in the quarter-finals (Monday, 10 August, 21.00). Moreover: A clash with another German team is possible in the semi-finals – provided the Werkself, VfL Wolfsburg (1-2 in first leg against Shakhtar Donetsk) and Eintracht Frankfurt (0-3 in first leg against FC Basel) are still in the competition.
Click HERE to download Europa League tournament schedule.
The day after the second leg against Rangers, the Bundesliga will be the focus again on Friday: The German Football League (DFL) will publish the fixture list for the 2020/21 season. At noon CET, the Werkself will find out their opposition for the first match of the new league campaign as well as the opponents for the other matchdays. bayer04.de will report straight after publication of the results.
The Bayer 04 Women have started preparing for the new season. Before working with the ball, Monday and Tuesday brings performance test at the BayArena. Different exercises will be carried out to check speed, balance and the capacity of the players’ cardiovascular systems on the speed court, in the Werkstatt as well as next to the BayArena pitch. The squad is split in two for the tests – one half on Monday and the other half on Tuesday.
Bayer 04 extended their social media presence last Friday with the official launch of the new TikTok channel. At the launch, there was – initially exclusively on the platform – the first photos of the new red away kit. Moussa Diaby pulled on the new shirt and then disappeared in a flash that attracted 200,000 views to mark an outstanding start. Bayer 04 sees TikTok providing great entertainment on the platform and attraction to a very young target audience without losing sight of providing information. And you can join in too: You can see the videos using the handle @bayer04 or by visiting www.tiktok.com/@bayer04.
Talking about videos. Make yourself comfortable, log onto YouTube and enjoy the film: ‘KAI – the Havertz story | 10 years at Bayer 04 Leverkusen’ has been on the Bayer 04 YouTube channel since Saturday. To mark his ten years at the club, the Werkself have dedicated a 50-minute documentary to the Bundesliga player with 118 appearances under his belt and portrayed the impressive development from a talented youngster from Mariadorf to a top player highly rated at home and abroad. Click HERE for the film.
In the summer of 1998, José Roberto da Silva Júnior – Zé Roberto for short – joined the Werkself from Real Madrid. Exactly 22 years ago, on 3 August 1998, he made his first appearance for the Black and Reds. The Brazilian was brought on by coach Christoph Daum in place of Zoran Mamic on 61 minutes in a cup tie against Bayern Munich. He went on to make another 149 appearances for Bayer 04 in the next four years before leaving the Werkself to join FC Bayern.
It took exactly 60 minutes for the Werkself to take the lead through a perfectly finished counter-attack by Patrik Schick in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off at Olympiacos. Referring to the meeting in the league phase and the initially squandered opportunities, coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: "I thought: 'Oh no, déjà-vu.'" But after the opening goal, it took just 144 seconds for the Czech to spark more wild celebrations among those in black and red in the Greek cauldron, when Schick nodded in Alejandro Grimaldo's corner. Much to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans, his teammates and his coach, who had warm words for the striker in the aftermath. The Werkself Review.
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Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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