Bayer 04 will be based in Austria from 14 to 22 July – in cooperation with the tourism partner SalzburgerLand, the Werkself will again stay at the Hotel Tauern Spa in Kaprun and complete their training sessions at the Alois Latini Stadium, home to FC Zell am See.
Lukas Hradecky, Patrik Schick & Co. will play Panathinaikos on Sunday 17 July (kick-off: 17.00 CEST) at the pitch in close proximity to the lake Zeller See. The club from the Greek capital have won the league title 20 times and last season the team under coach Ivan Jovanovic lifted the national cup and finished the season top of the Super League. This will not be the first meeting for Bayer 04 with the top Greek club. Panathinaikos and the Werkself faced each other in the Round of 16 in the European Cup Winners Cup in the 1993/94 season. Bayer 04 progressed to the next round with a 4-1 win after losing 2-1 in the first leg.
The Werkself have also played competitive matches against Udinese, the second opponents at the training camp – and that was four times within just 15 months in the UEFA Cup: Bayer 04 progressed through the first round against Italian club in 1998/1999 (1-1, 1-0) with Udinese coming out on top in the third round in the following season (1-0, 1-2). The team including former Bundesliga player Tolgay Arslan (including Hamburg SV) finished twelfth in Italy's top flight last season. The friendly will be played on Thursday 21 June (kick-off: 17.00 CEST), also at the Alois Latini Stadium.
The first match in the preseason ahead of the 2022/23 campaign will be five days before heading off to Austria. Bayer 04 will play third division MSV Duisburg in Velbert on Saturday 9 July. The kick-off will be at 15.30 CEST and information on ticket sales for the match at the IMS Arena HERE.
All Werkself friendlies will be broadcast live on the Bayer 04 YouTube channel.
Bayer 04 picked up their first three points in the current Champions League campaign on matchday 4 in the league phase with a courageous and determined display in a 1-0 win at Benfica (1:0). "It was a hugely important win," said coach Kasper Hjulmand after the game, paying tribute to his players for their battling performance right to the end. The Werkself defended resolutely right to the end and kept out off shot after shot. Keeper Mark Flekken said: "We were determined to get these three points and gave everything we had on the pitch!" Read on for more reaction plus the facts and stats on the away win at the Portuguese record champions in the Werkself review.
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The second European away game takes the Werkself to the Portuguese capital Lisbon. Kasper Hjulmand's team will face record champions Benfica on Wednesday, 5 November (kick-off: 20:00 GMT, 21:00 CET) on matchday 4 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League. As usual, we will take you along on the #aCROSSeurope journey and report from Lisbon. The times given are Central European Time.
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Werkself TV shows highlights of the 1-0 win for Bayer 04 at Benfica on matchday 4 in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league phase...
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The Werkself beat Benfica 1-0 on Matchday 4 of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League league phase to seal three crucial points! Both teams had promising chances in the first half, but the contest was goalless at half-time. Substitute Patrik Schick headed in to score the only goal after the restart (65’). The home side went looking for an equaliser but Bayer 04 defended passionately to see out the storm.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-1 win against Hamburger SV on the 9th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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