“We’re flabbergasted. We are really happy that this little initiative has proved to be so popular with the fans and the citizens of Leverkusen,” said Stefan Kießling, himself an amateur chef and also the patron of the book, about the huge success of the project. “Nobody believed at the beginning that the 3,000 copies would be sold out in three weeks.”
The idea that led to to the book came from two Bayer 04 employees: Anne Pleus (TecArena+) and Sabrina Räbsch (Marketing) initially asked colleagues to provide recipes to be able to cheer up members of staff working from home via the intranet. Pleus and Räbsch tried out the recipes, had professional photos taken and sorted the right layout. The book with spiral binding turned out to be a bestseller within a few days of going on sale both in the Bayer 04 shops and on the online shop.
It is all in a good cause. The proceeds from the book go in full to Tafel Leverkusen. €15,000 will be handed over on Friday 18 December. “The Tafel with its 7,100 people in need in Leverkusen is obviously going through a tough time due to the coronavirus pandemic. That’s why this donation is not only a real financial blessing for us but also motivates us to return to normality in the coming weeks and months,” said Dr. Adolf Staffe, chairperson of Tafel Leverkusen e. V., in paying tribute to the Bayer 04 initiative.
On the title page: The cookbook initiators Sabrina Räbsch (l.) and Anne Pleus (r.), patron Stefan Kießling (m.) plus Dr. Adolf Staffe (chairperson, 2nd left) and Reiner Endlein (deputy chair, both Tafel Leverkusen).
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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No points in the Kraichgau: the Werkself lost 1-0 away to top-six rivals TSG Hoffenheim on Bundesliga Matchday 18. Wouter Burger scored the only goal with a free kick in the ninth minute. In an uneventful contest, the Werkself tried hard to find an equaliser but were repeatedly thwarted.
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The meeting between fifth and sixth on Saturday afternoon (17 January, 15:30 CET) is a hard one to predict. While the Werkself can take confidence from their historic record at TSG Hoffenheim, the hosts are currently enjoying their second-best Bundesliga campaign and have lost just one of their last 10 games. Another good omen for Bayer 04: Daniel Schlager also refereed Leverkusen's last victory in Sinsheim (4-1). The Matchday News.
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At the end of the winter training camp in Portugal, the Bayer 04 Women convincingly mastered their friendly ahead of the start of the second half of the season. In the match against Swiss league leaders Servette FCCF, coach Roberto Pätzold's team won 3-0 at the Monte Gordo Sports Complex. Carlotta Wamser (4’), Vanessa Fudalla (18’) and Loreen Bender (53’) scored for Bayer 04, who have been preparing for the Rückrunde in the Algarve since last Saturday.
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The German Football League (DFL) has rescheduled the postponed fixture at Hamburger SV on Bundesliga matchday 17. The match, due to be played on Tuesday, has now been rescheduled for Wednesday, 4 March (kick-off: 20:30 CET).
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