"It's clear we'd like to end the year with another good performance. But both teams obviously want that," said Gerardo Seoane in describing the situation ahead of the clash in Freiburg. SCF are definitely one of the surprise teams of this Bundesliga season. Freiburg have picked up 26 points from 16 games and are currently fifth in the table. In addition, the team under coach Christian Streich have the strongest defence in the league at the moment having conceded just 15 goals. "They are compact and very disciplined," declared the Werkself coach.
The Swiss boss will have to manage without Moussa Diaby on Sunday. The Frenchman was shown two yellow cards in the game against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and will therefore miss the last game of the year. In addition to Diaby, only Julian Baumgartlinger and Mitchel Bakker are definitely sidelined. Jeremie Frimpong will return to the squad after serving a one-match ban.
The Dutchman is a candidate for the starting line-up as is his teammate Patrik Schick. The Czech striker is currently in a rich vein of form and has scored all of the Werkself's last eight goals in the Bundesliga. "He's a sensational striker who has both technical and physical qualities," said Seoane in praise of his player who has now netted 16 goals in the first half of the season (plus three assists) and thereby set a new club record – the previous one was set by Ulf Kirsten in 1997/98 with 14 goals up to the winter break.
"Of course," said the coach, "Patrik is in top form. But a centre-forward always needs a good provider." The Werkself have that in the shape of Diaby, Wirtz, Adli and Co. Nevertheless, Seoane emphasises "how important a number nine is for our game." And, with Schick and Lucas Alario, there are two strikers who "can also find the back of the net."
In Christian Streich, there is a man in the dugout at Freiburg who enjoys the utmost respect from the Swiss coach. "His personality and his humanity are impressive. In addition, he's a fantastic coach who has got more than the maximum out of SC Freiburg for years," said the 43-year-old, who again pointed to the balance of the league ahead of the last Bundesliga match of the year. "The fact a lot of teams are close together, says a lot for a certain concentration of performance," said Seoane. "It will be a difficult game – not just for us but for any team that has to play at Freiburg."
This year - for the third time - the parents of the Bayer 04 youth players from the U8 to U15 age groups once again took part in the WDR Christmas Miracle. Under the motto "Goals against hunger in the world - parents in goal!", they organised their own fundraising campaign to once again actively support the important WDR campaign. The sum of €3,420 was handed over at the Glashaus in Essen in the middle of the week during the live programme.
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The Leverkusen eSports players picked up just one point on Tuesday 16 December in the remaining three matches of the online preliminary round of Showdown Three in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. As a result, the #B04eSports team once again miss out on going through to the offline knockout phase and now head into the winter break.
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Today, Tuesday 16 December (live on B04eSports Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports players face the final three matches of the online preliminary round of Showdown Three in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In addition to 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and SV 07 Elversberg, they will play Fortuna Düsseldorf, who are still unbeaten in this third showdown. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Whether it's the Lions Club, Teens, Bayer 04 Club or Silver Lions - there was a lot going on again this year in all age-specific members' clubs. We look back on an eventful year with numerous events and many exclusive moments with the Werkself. We take a look at what the year 2025 had to offer for the members of the Bayer 04 Club...
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