The first game of the season away to Borussia Dortmund is on Saturday 6 August. The kick-off at the Signal Iduna Park is at 18.30 CEST. The opening home fixture is on Saturday 13 August. FC Augsburg are the first visitors to the BayArena this term.
There is another home fixture a week later: The Werkself entertain TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday 20 August (kick-off: 15.30 CEST. The fourth and final match in August is away to Mainz 05. That game is also on a Saturday afternoon (27 August) at 15.30 CEST.
That is followed in September with the home game against SC Freiburg, an away trip to Hertha Berlin and a home match against Werder Bremen (see list below).
Bundesliga fixtures matchdays 1 to 7:
Borussia Dortmund vs Bayer 04 (Saturday 6 August, 18.30 CEST)
Bayer 04 vs FC Augsburg (Saturday 13 August, 15.30 CEST)
Bayer 04 vs TSG Hoffenheim (Saturday 20 August, 15.30 CEST)
Mainz 05 vs Bayer 04 (Saturday 27 August, 15.30 CEST)
Bayer 04 vs SC Freiburg (Saturday 3 September, 15.30 CEST)
Hertha Berlin vs Bayer 04 (Saturday 10 September, 15.30 CEST)
Bayer 04 vs Werder Bremen (Saturday 17 September, 15.30 CEST)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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