
The Black and Red Champions League special edition is here. Werkself Magazin number 38 appears in time for the opening game for Bayer 04 in the Champions League. This has already been sent out to members of the Werkself by post and now the magazine is available online. It contains a big interview with head coach Gerardo Seoane, contains information on the Champions League campaign in 2022/23 and there is also everything on the history of Bayer 04 in Europe's premier club competition.
Click here for the free online edition
UEFA have appointed Irfan Peljto as the match official the meeting with Club Brugge. The Champions League match is the first game involving the Werkself under the 38-year-old referee from Bosnia-Herzegovina who has been a FIFA official since 2015. At the Jan Breydel Stadium, Peljto will be assisted by his fellow countrymen Senad Ibrisimbegović and Davor Beljo, with the Italian Marco Guida as the VAR official. Have a good game.

Club Brugge and Bayer 04 meet in a European competition for the second time. The last game in the Champions League group stage in 2006/07 produced a 1-1 draw with Bernd Schneider giving the Black and Reds the lead in the first half. For the Belgian side, this will be the tenth time in Europe's premier club competition. However, Club Brugge have not progressed through the group stage in all of their nine previous attempts, more than any other club.
Comparing the start to the season by the two clubs, the Belgians appear to have upper hand: 16 points in the first seven games in the Jupiter Pro League sees last year's champions of Belgium third in the table at the moment. Despite many new signings, Club Brugge have been prolific in front of goal (17 goals). It remains to be seen how the Belgians will perform against the Werkself tonight. Further information on our opponents from West Flanders can be found in the analysis of our next opponents.
Anybody unable to make the trip to Belgium can follow the audio broadcast on the Werkself Radio from 30 minutes before kick-off. Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann will keep fans up-to-date with the action in the game against the Belgian side. You can also keep in touch via live text updates. Both the radio and update service can be found at bayer04.de as well as on the Bayer 04 app.

The fixture details for the Bayer 04 Women’s first match in the 2026/27 DFB Pokal has been confirmed: As announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning, the Leverkusen Women will face second-tier side FC Viktoria Berlin in the first round on Sunday 27 September at 14:00 CEST.
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Once again, well over 100 Werkself fans were delighted to receive an invitation from the club’s record appearance-maker, Rüdiger Vollborn, to the sold-out Schwadbud at the BayArena. This time, the supporters listened as the club historian provided fascinating, exclusive insights into the period from Bayer 04 being founded in 1904 to the club’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979. A journey through time is also planned for the upcoming ‘Rudi lädt ein’ event in early November – this time focusing on the years of the Nazi regime.
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Getting in the mood for the new season together, exchanging ideas and looking ahead to the coming months: Bayer 04 welcomed partners to the BayArena for the annual sponsors season-launch event. In a relaxed atmosphere, the management, head coach and players came together with representatives from partner companies to celebrate the start of the 2026/27 season.
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Happy children’s faces at the SSV Lützenkirchen training ground: For the 25th time, the Birkenberg soccer school – organised by SportBund Leverkusen – offered participating youngsters an exciting holiday activity. Meeting a Bayer 04 player has now become a cherished tradition. This time, Ibrahim Maza visited the 150 children and spoke to them about his World Cup experiences, amongst other things. “It’s always lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm for football,” said the 20-year-old, after bringing a sparkle to many eyes with selfies and autographs.
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