The final days in the current season under the Bayer Cross are not just about the race for Europe. The impending retirement of Lars and Sven Bender has assumed great importance for management. staff and, above all, the fans of the Werkself. As part of the Wir sagen Danke! campaign, the club are working with Bayer 04 fans in organising numerous events and projects.
This includes redesigning the Mixed Zone, an area usually reserved for partner presentations. A banner with snapshots from the twelve years Lars Bender has spent at Bayer 04 now line the corridor to the home dressing room. It was designed and produces in co-operation with members of the fan umbrella organisation ‘Nordkurve12’. The message says it all: “Battle, ambition, passion – Thank you Lars.” Definitely additional motivation for all Werkself players for the forthcoming and last home game against FC Union Berlin (Saturday, 15 May, 15.30 CEST) with Lars Bender unfortunately unavailable due to injury.
The Bayer 04 shop in Bergisch Gladbach, currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will not reopen. The club has decided to give up the shop on the high street. The Bayer 04 shops in Wiesdorf and at the BayArena will remain open.
Bayer 04 are supporting the cancer awareness campaign #touch organised by the BERGISCHE health insurance company. The Sponsors Club partner of the Werkself is focussing on breast cancer prevention. Nina Brüggemann, Juliane Wirtz, Kristin Kögel and Anna Wellmann are four players from the Leverkusen Bundesliga team involved as the face of the campaign for the BERGISCHE.
Germany are in the European Championships in the summer. Head coach Joachim Löw recently announced he would do without a Euros casting session at the training camp in Seefeld/Tyrol and select the 26 players permitted for the Euro finals. The 61-year-old will announce his squad next Wednesday, 19 May, at 12.30 CEST and the training camp in Austria will begin on 28 May. The DFB will have to name the final squad on 1 June.
The opening match in the European Championships is on 11 June. Germany play World Cup winners France four days later. The other group opponents are Portugal (19 June) and Hungary (23 June).
The Bundesliga is drawing to a close and the European Championships are around the corner – amateur matches have not been played for over six months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The German Football Association (DFB) and the German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB) have organised a campaign and petition for the resumption of amateur sport.
Under the heading, ‘Draußen muss drin sein’ (Outside has to be in), the sports associations are advocating the fastest possible approval of organised training and practice sessions – leading to the resumption of fixtures. Everybody can give their backing to amateur sport.
Michael Rensing celebrates his 37th birthday this weekend. Born in Emsland, he signed for Bayern Munich at the age of 16 and he stayed at the club for ten years. The keeper then moved on to FC Köln and in 2012/13 to Bayer 04. Rensing was the back-up to Bernd Leno and he made four appearances – the Werkself won three of those matches. That was followed by seven years at Fortuna Düsseldorf and he retired from the game in 2020. Happy birthday, Michael Rensing.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 4-0 victory in the friendly match against KRC Genk...
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