After breakfast and a morning rest, head coach Peter Bosz led his players on a walk along the beach promenade in Tel Aviv in sunshine and temperatures over 20 degrees at lunchtime. Several Werkself players took the opportunity to take snapshots of the Mediterranean and the long beach.
On Thursday evening (kick-off: 18.55 CET) in Petach Tikwa, a few kilometres east of Tel Aviv, Lukas Hradecky and Co. have a Europa League away game at Hapoel Beer Sheva. It is also the first competitive match for the Werkself on Israeli soil.
As usual, Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann will guide Bayer 04 fans through this encounter with their expertise and passion for the Black and Reds. Werks11 Radio starts broadcasting half an hour before kick-off with the duo reporting live from the BayArena. Log on to bayer04.de from 18.25 CET or via the Bayer 04 app.
The game against Be’er Sheva will also be shown on the streaming service DAZN. Lukas Schönmüller is the commentator and the former second division player Sebastian Kneißl is the pundit.
The Werkself completed their final pre-match training session on Wednesday evening following the press conference with Peter Bosz and Nadiem Amiri at the Ha Moshava Stadium. Bayer04.de brings you images from the floodlit session:
As announced by Chelsea on Wednesday, Kai Havertz has tested positive for coronavirus. The Bayer 04 homegrown talent is currently self-isolating according to the top English club and was therefore unable to play in Wednesday night’s 3-0 home win against Stade Rennes in the Champions League.
Havertz signed for the Premier League club in the summer after ten years at Bayer Leverkusen where, according to sporting managing director Rudi Völler, he developed into a “world class” player. Bayer 04 say: Get well soon, Kai!
The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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