The large number of fans, who made their way to the BayArena on the first day of the Easter holidays, were able to watch all the players with the exception of the two long-term absentees Karim Bellarabi and Joel Pohjanpalo – the captain Lars Bender, who was not in the squad for the Stuttgart game on Saturday, took part in the 70-minute session that focused on stamina work. Ahead of the duel against Nürnberg, the Werkself have another open session tomorrow before the Black and Reds continue preparing for the next home game behind closed doors on Thursday.
Kai Havertz was the only Werkself player to be included in the German Football League (bundesliga.de) Team of the Day on matchday 29. The primary reason was his third converted penalty of the season in the Bundesliga that proved to be the winner in the 1-0 victory over Stuttgart – no other player has achieved that at his age (19 years, 306 days). It was also goal number 13 of the season for Havertz who made his 100th appearance for the Werkself in Stuttgart on Saturday (including 83 in the Bundesliga). But that's not all: the young national player has netted his 20th goal in the league – only Horst Köppel achieved that at a younger age (19 years, 241 days; in 1966/67).
Last week, Bayer 04 received the 'Digital Champions Award' in the 'Digital Customer Experience' category. An internal (staff) app for the improvement of the stadium experience at the BayArena was assessed. With the help of the app, a large number of the members of staff at home games are supplied with important information via smartphones or tablets and, for example, it makes checking the kiosks easier. The 'Digital Champions Award' is an award for the German growth market in the area of digitisation and transformation and the target is to reward the most significant projects of SMEs and reach a wide audience.
A new look and new kit supplier for the 2025/26 campaign: Bayer 04 in tandem with sports equipment manufacturer New Balance present the official kit for the Leverkusen eSports players the coming season. New partner Sinology appears on the top right of the jersey. Menswear outfitters Lerros is still the main eSports sponsor and Niedax remains the sleeve partner. The jersey is available now from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
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Bosnia U19 international Kerim Alajbegovic is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth set-up to Red Bull Salzburg. The talented attacking midfielder has signed a long-term contract with the Austrian club. At the same time, the works club secured a buy-back option for the 17-year-old, who was one of the mainstays of the Leverkusen U19s.
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Preparations for the 2025/26 season at Bayer 04 start next Monday, 7 July, with the first team and youth players training together. Without the international players who were involved with their national teams at the end of last season, new head coach Erik ten Hag will welcome a group of senior and youth players to the first open training session one week ahead of the departure to the training camp in Rio de Janeiro. After the official welcome in the dressing room, the Werkself players will start the session in the shadow of the BayArena on 7 July at 14:00 CEST.
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The Werkself are away to Premier League club Chelsea in the final pre-season friendly. The game against the current holders of the UEFA Conference League is on Friday, 8 August at Stamford Bridge with the kick-off at 20:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
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