
A fixture to excite the whole of the Rhineland. There is no doubt of the outcome wanted by the Werkself: “More important than ever: a DERBY WIN!”
The club and fans are reviving a tradition to make it happen: ‘Finally Red’ – originally launched by the NK12 Fan Club. Since the Cup Final in 2009 the home end has regularly been turned into a sea of deep red. Eight years later, the intention is for every home supporters area at the BayArena to be in that colour. That’s why the fan organisations and the club are calling on everyone to wear red for Saturday’s derby at home to FC Köln. Replica shirts, pullovers, T-shirts, shirts or jackets – everybody will recognise support for the team straight away: For Bayer 04! For our SVB!
“Fight together – win together” was on the T-shirts worn by the players in the warm-up before the last home game. The same T-shirts were worn by fans and staff members for the last away game at Ingolstadt where the Werkself drew level after going behind and just missed out on collecting three points. Now we want stand together to stay up through our own efforts. All in red for the derby – Finally Red!
Guard of honour on Bismarckstraße
To get the Werkself up for the forthcoming game, the NK12 Fan Club have called for fans to meet up on Bismarckstraße between the Stadioneck bar and the motorway bridge on Saturday at 13.30. “We want to form a motivational guard of honour for the team to show we’re all behind them, said a representative of the fan club. “It’s all about our club and our future. We’re firmly convinced we can put on an impressive display to reconfirm our support for the team.”


The Werkself face Manchester City for the very first time on Tuesday for Matchday 5 of the league phase in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League (kick-off: 21:00 CET). The hosts sit fourth in the standings and boast huge quality in attack, while Leverkusen are looking to improve their meagre record of just one win from the last 10 games away at English clubs. A key player in that regard could be Aleix Garcia, the former City midfielder who ranks highly in several passing metrics in the Champions League this season. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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The Werkself's next European trip takes them to the north-west of England as Kasper Hjulmand's side take on Manchester City on Tuesday, 25 November (kick-off: 21:00 CET) on Matchday 5 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. As usual, we'll take you along on the #aCROSSeurope journey and report from Manchester. All times listed are in CET.
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The dress rehearsal in the Premier League for the match against the Werkself did not go well at the weekend. However, Manchester City are still unbeaten in the UEFA Champions League, the competition they won in 2023. In the first encounter with Bayer 04 this Tuesday, 25 November (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Pep Guardiola will be able to field just about his best line-up. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Will the Bayer 04 U19s take the next step towards their first appearance in the knockout stage of the UEFA Youth League in the away game at Manchester City? Coach Kevin Brok is well aware of this historic opportunity, but he's not about to start worrying about the maths: "We're not concerned with the question of what might be good enough. We invest everything we can and always aim for the maximum. That's our way." The game on this penultimate Matchday 5 of the league phase takes place on Tuesday, 25 November (kick-off: 16:00 CET) at the Manchester City Academy Stadium. Werkself TV will be broadcasting the whole match exclusively for Bayer 04 club members live from 15:50 CET....
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€1,000 and food for a good cause: In keeping with the long-standing cooperation between Bayer 04 and the Tafel Leverkusen e.V. food bank, the U19s are also supporting the charitable organisation in the region. In addition to the generous cheque the team were able to donate to an organisation of their choice as a result of their participation in the UEFA Youth League, coach Kevin Brok's lads donated €500 worth of food - financed by their own team kitty. Ferdinand Pohl, Jesper Schlich and Co. also actively helped to stow the food in the Tafel's premises.
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