"The injury list hasn't improved as much as we hoped before the winter break," said Roger Schmidt in view of the current personnel situation. At the training camp in Orlando it looked very good for Lars Bender and Kevin Volland. "But Sunday’s game has come too early for both of them," explained the coach. While Bender has completed parts of full training, Volland is currently suffering with a back problem. It's looking much better for Kießling: "Kieß trained today but there is slight uncertainty of how he will react."
The whole club is particularly looking forward to the wizard on the wing Karim Bellarabi making his Bundesliga return for Leverkusen as Roger Schmidt emphasised: "Karim is in very good shape. It does us all good to have him back in the squad." Sporting director Rudi Völler took the same view early on in the week: "Great pace used to be important but these days it’s decisive – particularly against deep-lying opponents. So we're very happy that Karim is available again with all his power and tempo. That key was often missing in the first half of the season."
Roger Schmidt is expecting an exciting match against third-placed Hertha Berlin: "Hertha have been playing at a very high level over the past year and a half. This match will be a very tough challenge for us. We have to make sure that we focus on the discipline we showed over the winter break. They are very compact and good on the counter-attack with their fast players. We need a certain amount of patience and have to focus on our own game to make sure we don't give anything away."
Bayer 04 Bayer 04 expect a crowd of 27,000 including 1,300 from Berlin. Ticket offices will be open on matchday.
Comeback on the mike
The new voice at home games at the BayArena will be a familiar one: Klaus Schenkmann, who handed over the role of stadium announcer after 15 years at the start of the season to Thomas Wagner, presenter of the Morning Show on Radio Leverkusen, returns to the mike for the match against Hertha Berlin. Schenkmann, who gave up his role at the Werkself last summer for professional reasons, now has greater capacity enabling him to return alongside Pitti Dahl in his stadium announcement duties at the BayArena.
Klaus will head for the Schwadbud after the final whistle against Hertha: Schenkmann will join Bayer 04 defender Jonathan Tah and Werkself fan Benjamin Liebig (Fan club 'Bismarck 122') at 18.00 CET to analyse the game against the team from Berlin.
The final whistle of the current 2025/26 season marks the end of a unique partnership for Bayer 04 Leverkusen. After more than three decades of collaboration and highly eventful times, the Bundesliga football club and the private brewery Bitburger are going their separate ways.
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A simple approach to sport with games, fun and a highlight at the end: Bayer 04 organised a very special training session for 40 participants aged between six and 27 in cooperation with the Football Association of the Middle Rhine (FVM). At the day of action for women and girls with disabilities at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, many of the participants gained their first experience of football.
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On Saturday, 28 March, the lights will go out again at the BayArena from 20:30 pm to 21:30. As in previous years, Bayer 04 once again take part in the WWF Earth Hour campaign under the motto "We're switching off" as the club wants to set a collective example for more climate and environmental protection together with people, cities and companies around the world.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen are bringing back Kerim Alajbegovic, who joined Red Bull Salzburg in the summer of 2025. The Bundesliga club activated the buy-back option in the contract with the Bosnia international, who has enjoyed great success at the Austrian top-flight club since the start of the current season. Alajbegovic moved to Salzburg from the Leverkusen U19s last year. The 1.86-metre forward has signed a five-year contract at Leverkusen with a start date of 1 July 2026.
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Less than a year ago, Kerim Alajbegovic moved from the Bayer 04 U19s to Austrian top-flight club FC Red Bull Salzburg. The forward’s development since then has been impressive. In 36 matches, including in the UEFA Europa League, the 18-year-old has scored 14 goals. In the summer, Alajbegovic, now a Bosnia international, will return to Leverkusen - and thus not only achieve the next milestone still early in his career, but also enrich the Werkself squad with his footballing versatility and determination.
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