
Fernando Carro and Co. brought 40 Werkself shirts for the football section at the DSM. The Bayer 04 CEO, along with fans and community director Meinolf Sprink, watched the football tournament in the morning. The Bayer 04 members of staff Benjamin Seifert and Carsten Baumann, who used to play professional football, split the kids up into four teams. "The atmosphere is simply brilliant. A really great setting," said Baumann looking at the over 200 school students surrounding the pitch who got behind the lads of the football section from classes six and seven.

The connection between the German School Madrid and the Werkself opened another chapter in the summer of 2022: Dirk Karl Pilgram was appointed headteacher at the DSM on 1 August - he was born in Leverkusen. He was in the youth section at Bayer 04 for four years as a teenager and he later worked for Bayer AG. Pilgram thanked Carro, Sprink and Co. for their visit: "It's always a special honour for us to be able to welcome you here. And, of course, I'm really happy to welcome my favourite club to Madrid."




The Leverkusen delegation presented Pilgram with another gift following the short tournament: a Werkself shirt signed by all the players and coach Xabi Alonso. "A really cool present," said 11-year-old Noah with a beaming smile. And you can be sure that this shirt will also find a very special place at the German School Madrid…

It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
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