The Werkself players wore the new home shirt for the 2023/24 season with the cross on the chest for the first time in the match at the Spanish Champions League club. A badge marking the charity match on the front of the shirt was another highlight. The shirt auction raised €16,739. The top seller at the auction was the shirt worn by Florian Wirtz with a value of over €4,000.
The money raised will be used to carry out the first clinical study in Europe on the treatment of SPG50. Children from Spain and Germany will take part in this clinical study, which will build on a study previously carried out in the USA. Javier Garcia, president of the Columbus Foundation, said: "The Columbus Foundation thanks Bayer 04 for their great support. This enables us to start the second clinical study at the beginning of next year. The families of the children affected have great hopes in the study for the treatment of this previously incurable disease."
The Fundación Columbus:
The Columbus Children’s Foundation has the mission of raising funds for research into rare diseases and to find treatments for these through gene therapy. The friendly against the Champions League team from La Liga is specifically part of the battle against spastic paraplegia 50 (SPG 50). This rare neuromuscular disease affects a very limited number of children with symptoms including developmental delay, mental incapacity and changes to or absence of speech.
The Werkself will host VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena on matchday 16 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The game is on Saturday, 10 January, at 18:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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The Werkself will host Werder Bremen at the BayArena on matchday 19 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The game is on Saturday, 24 January, at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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In the sixth and final match of the league phase of the UEFA Youth League 2025/26, the Bayer 04 U19s have a great opportunity to advance to the knockout phase of Europe’s most prestigious youth competition for the first time. To achieve that under their own steam, they will need a win against Newcastle United at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Wednesday, 10 December (kick-off: 14:00 CET/ free admission). In an interview with bayer04.de, managing director sport Simon Rolfes analyses the team's performances so far and their special situation. And the 43-year-old reveals what he would be happy to do without on the day of the match.
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The next opponents in the 2025/26 DFB Pokal have been announced: Bayer 04 will host Bundesliga rivals FC St. Pauli in the quarter-finals. That was the outcome of the draw held this Sunday evening, 7 December, at the German Football Museum in Dortmund, where long-time Bundesliga player and coach Friedhelm Funkel made the draw. The Werkself will play their quarter-final tie on 3-4 or 10-11 February 2026. The exact dates have yet to be finalised.
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After falling behind early on, Bayer 04 took control of the game against a combative and disciplined FC Augsburg on Saturday afternoon. However, they lacked the necessary precision in finishing and hit the post and crossbar three times. After the game, coach Kasper Hjulmand said he wanted to get back to the "right philosophy" of previous matches with three games left in 2025. The Werkself review.
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