The Blanquinegros (the White and Blacks) have just experienced their biggest success in recent club history. In the final of the Copa del Rey, the Spanish cup competition, Valencia surprisingly beat Barcelona 2-1 to lift the domestic cup trophy for an eighth time. The team from the port city had an impressive season last term. After finishing third in their Champions League group, Valencia reached the semi-finals of the Europa League where their dreams of winning the tournament ended with defeat against Arsenal. Valencia will again be in Europe's premier club competition in the coming season with the team coached by Marcelino finishing behind the 'big' three clubs – Barca, Real and Atletico Madrid – in fourth spot just like Bayer 04. And there are not just parallels with the Werkself in terms of final league position. Just before Christmas, Valencia were in the bottom half of the table but the team had a brilliant second half of the season and they took fourth place late on to secure a ticket for the Champions League.
Valencia were certainly active in the transfer market during the summer break. In the middle of July, the Blanquinegros completed spectacular business with league rivals Celta Vigo to secure the rights to the highly talented central striker Maxi Gómez from Uruguay. Not only a fee in double digit millions went to Vigo but also Valencia's star striker Santi Mina as well as central defender Jorge Sáenz on loan. There was also activity right at the back as well as up front: The Holland goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen joined Valencia from Barcelona with the previous regular keeper Neto moving on to the Catalans. Here too, the player exchange also saw money move from Valencia to Barcelona. With the exception of Neto and Mina, the regular players from last season were retained so the team should be well organised. The key part of the team is the captain Dani Parejo, who has been the maestro in central midfield for the past eight years. The now 30-year-old produced such outstanding performances last season that he played a role in the Spanish national side at this somewhat late stage in his career. Parejo played his first full 90 minutes for the Furia Roja in the 3-0 victory over Sweden in the Euro qualifiers in June.
With the signing of Cillessen, Valencia hope to have achieved an upgrade in the goalkeeper position. The Dutchman must however first prove that he has the consistency to be a regular first choice keeper after being the understudy to Marc-André ter Stegen at Barcelona for the past three years that saw him almost exclusively playing in goal in the Copa del Rey. The lack of match practice could be a problem at the start of the season. There is also room for improvement for Valencia at their home ground the Estadio Mestalla. In 19 league games at home last season, the 'Bats’ only secured seven wins – not really enough for a top team.
Under coach Marcelino, Valencia have established themselves as the fourth club behind Barcelona plus Real and Atletico from Madrid. The club now have to defend this position before a long-term assault on the three leading teams would appear to be a realistic proposition. However, as in previous years, the Blanquinegros now have another impressive squad, above all, with the two highly talented wingers Carlos Soler and Goncalo Guedes (both 22) likely to make great progress this season so that both players could be on the radar of top clubs in Europe.
Bayer 04 face a real test in the conclusion of the pre-season – hopefully with a better outcome for Leverkusen than last year. Ahead of the start of the 2018 season, Valencia secured a convincing 3-0 victory over the Werkself – albeit at the Estadio Mestalla. As with Bayer 04, Valencia start their league campaign on 17 August, although they do not have a cup tie before that. Spectators at the season launch can expect a high quality friendly with a top Spanish side as opponents. The Werkself can only meet Valencia in the knockout rounds of the Champions League. Both teams are in pot three and therefore cannot be in the same group.
Tickets are on sale for the last two Bayer 04 Women's team home games in 2025. Fans can now purchase tickets for the matches at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against RB Leipzig and the final fixture of the year in the Rückrunde opener against German champions Bayern Munich. The latest information at a glance.
Show more
Eliminated ahead of the offline round: On Tuesday, 18 November, the Leverkusen console pros played the two remaining matches in the online preliminary round of showdown two. After picking up six points from the first four games last week, the #B04eSports team bagged another three in the two final duels - but it wasn't enough. The Leverkusen team missed out on a place in the offline knockout round, which will take place in this second showdown on 23 November in Frankfurt am Main.
Show more
The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
Bayer 04 has presented the groups on the Monheim council with extensively revised proposals for the planned Campus. As part of constructive discussions, the club presented a plan to the CDU, SPD, Greens, FDP, PETO and the Left Party that envisages a one-third reduction in the area of the site on Alfred-Nobel-Strasse. The distance to neighbours will be increased by almost 60 percent. The green corridor will therefore be significantly larger than previously planned. Here are the main changes.
Show more
A disappointing Sunday afternoon in the Hanseatic city: The Bayer 04 Women missed out on a place in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals after a penalty shoot-out at Hamburger SV. After more than 120 minutes of play, coach Roberto Pätzold's team lost 4-2 on penalties to the Bundesliga newcomers in front of 3,993 spectators at the Volksparkstadion. Julia Mickenhagen's brilliant strike to level at 1-1 on 73 minutes was not enough for the Werkself in this tie. The Bayer Leverkusen Women’s team reached quarter-finals in both of the previous two seasons.
Show more
