
"It was a great event with 32 teams and we went close to lifting the cup," said Dreher after an exciting final. The final game in the tournament ended in a 2-2 draw with the Borussia Dortmund team scoring the opener on 20 seconds and levelling the scores with 20 seconds to play. That bookmarked Bayer 04 goals scored by Marcel Podszus and David Müller. The left-footed Müller also made his debut in the Bayer 04 Veterans team as did Tim Jerat. Dortmund then won 3-1 in the penalty shoot-out.
The group matches saw Bayer 04 clock up two wins (2-0 against Marador Füchse with goals from Müller and Ioannis Masmanidis, 3-2 against Dieter Hein with strikes from Podszus (2 ) and Hüzeyfe Dogan) plus a 0-0 draw with Team Baxter. The knock-out rounds brought victories against Rot-Weiss Essen in the Round of 16 (2-0/Jerat and Dogan), VDV-Vereinigung in the last eight (2-0/double from Masmanidis) plus Sonepar in the semis. Podszus and Masmanidis found the back of the net a 2-2 draw and the shoot-out ended in a 3-2.
The Veterans next game is on Saturday in Leverkusen. The sports ground on Tannenbergstraße hosts a match against a Bayer 04 fans eleven. The kick-off is at 14.15 CET.

In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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Bayer 04 Women have boosted their firepower with the signing of Poland international Paulina Tomasiak. The 24-year-old striker moves to Leverkusen from Gornik Leczna in her homeland on a two-year contract.
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