It was an emotional get-together before the Werkself entered the home straight at the end of the season on Monday. Peter Bosz and his team are back in action on Saturday (15.30 CET, live text commentary and web radio in German at bayer04.de) with Hertha Berlin providing the final challenge of the campaign in Bundesliga season number 56. And against the team from Berlin, it is once again a case of all or nothing for the Black and Reds – Kai Havertz talked about the "most important game of the season" on Tuesday.
It's all about playing in the Champions League next season. Just two goals separate Bayer 04 from fourth place with Borussia Mönchengladbach in that position at the moment. And Eintracht Frankfurt, with one point less than the Werkself and Gladbach lying in sixth place, also are in with a chance – while Wolfsburg are outsiders In the race for a Champions League spot due to their significantly worse goal difference. The fact Gladbach (at home to Borussia Dortmund) and Frankfurt (away to Bayern Munich) are wrapped up in games against the top two clubs gives hope to the Werkself. "We have to win," said Havertz laying down the line and on Saturday the hope is the two potential title winners can lend a hand. "We'll do all we can this week to prepare perfectly for Berlin. And we have to give our all again and then see what happens in the end," said the Werkself top goalscorer who has found the back of the net in each of the last six games.
The last open training session of the season was held on Tuesday morning – all the squad were involved with the exception of Julian Baumgartlinger (rested) plus the long-term injured players Karim Bellarabi, Leon Bailey and Joel Pohjanpalo (all in rehab training) and, at the end of the session, the group made the watching fans happy with selfies and autographs.
After a day off on Wednesday, the last part of preparations for Berlin will be held behind closed doors before the Werkself set off for the capital on Friday afternoon.
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Two Saturdays, one Friday and one Sunday: The dates for the Bayer 04 Women's team games on matchdays 16 to 19 have been finalised. Three of the four matches scheduled by the German Football Association (DFB) on Tuesday will be played at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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Despite a courageous display, the Bayer 04 Women missed out on a surprise at the start of the second half of the Bundesliga season. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team lost 3-0 to league leaders Bayern Munich on Monday night. An early goal from the clinical visitors, a disputed penalty and another spot-kick prevented Leverkusen, who are seventh in the table on 22 points from 14 games, from picking up a point in front of 3,011 spectators at the sold-out Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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The Werkself rang in the Black and Red festive season with an emotional visit to Klinikum Leverkusen. Kristin Kögel, Melissa Friedrich and Louisa Remien from the Bayer 04 Women's team and Jonas Hofmann, Janis Blaswich and Niklas Lomb from the first team visited the young patients on the children's ward and, for the first time, on the ‘Zeitinsel’ children's palliative care unit. They brought a host of lovingly wrapped presents ensuring a big surprise for young and old alike.
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