The battling 2-1 win for the Werkself at Wolfsburg again demonstrates the ability of head coach Roger Schmidt’s team to take blows and fight back. Bayer 04 succeeded in coming back from behind to win a match for the third time in the current Bundesliga campaign. The previous two victories were against Hamburg SV and FSV Mainz 05 when hat-tricks from Joel Pohjanpalo and Chicharito turned the games round. Those nine points are the highest number in the league and Leverkusen were the most successful team last season in this respect, picking up 19 points after going behind (five wins, four draws).
The boost from an important match, played with great determination, comes at exactly the right time in a busy week of fixtures that sees the Werkself take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League on Wednesday before returning to Bundesliga action on Saturday with a home fixture against Darmstadt 98. Bayer 04 set off to London on Tuesday from Cologne/Bonn Airport. There will be no lack of support for the Werkself in Britain’s capital: A large number of the players’ and coaches’ wives and girlfriends will be there along with the Bayer 04 Veterans team plus some 2,000 fans.
World-famous Wembley stadium
They are all looking forward to Wednesday night’s clash at the legendary Wembley Stadium opened in 2007 – in exactly the same spot as the historical arena opened in 1923 and the stage for the Olympic Games in 1948, the World Cup Final in 1966 and the Euro 96 Final. It was demolished in 2003 to make way for the new stadium. Wembley, with a capacity of 90,000, has twice hosted the Champions League Final: In 2011 between Barcelona and Manchester United (3-1) and in 2013 between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich(1-2). This season has seen the start of construction work at Spurs home ground of White Hart Lane and that means that Tottenham will play all their home Champions League games at Wembley this term and in the 2017/18 season all home games will be played at Wembley. The new White Hart Lane will have a capacity of 61,000 (currently 36,000). The stadium will be ready for the start of the 2018/19 campaign.
Spurs remain unbeaten in Premier League
Spurs are still the only team in the Premier League yet to lose a match this season. However, the team coached by Mauricio Pochettino have stuttered a bit lately. On Saturday, they drew 1-1 with reigning champions Leicester City with the Dutchman Vincent Janssen putting them ahead from the penalty spot. Tottenham are currently fifth in the English top flight, three points behind leaders Manchester City, and their next outing in the league is the North London derby against Arsenal on Sunday.
The Werkself U19 team also have great plans for the trip to London. The team coached by Markus von Ahlen and Iraklis Metaxas are looking for a result to follow up the 3-1 victory against Spurs in Leverkusen to set themselves up with a good chance of making the knockout stages of the Youth League. That match kicks off at 18.00 CET on Wednesday.
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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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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A memorable 12 months: 2025 was a year marked by success, intense competition and groundbreaking innovations for the #B04eSports team. After ending the 2024/25 season as runners-up, the Leverkusen-based console pros got down to business in a new, completely restructured season model, in which showdowns rather than divisions were the decisive factor on the road to the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 quickly earned a place in the history books of the most prestigious competition in German eSports and secured some valuable advantages for the coming year. Bayer04.de takes a look back at 12 months full of passion and the determination to take the next step.
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Sustainability once again had many faces at Bayer 04 in 2025: In community activity, the club supported countless regional campaigns, including the Leverkusener Tafel, the Frauenennotruf Leverkusen e.V. and the homeless aid organisation "Kältegang". But the Black and Reds have also been involved in good causes around the world - including the Young Coaches training programmes in Uganda and Ecuador plus the Genuine World Cup in the USA, where the Inclusion Werkself competed. Bayer 04 was also fully committed to the environment and underwent external and independently certification in accordance with the European environmental management standard EMAS, for example, to analyse and optimise the club’s environmental efforts. Looking back at sustainability in 2025.
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