The Black and Reds got off to a flying start in the Bundesliga campaign under head coach Reinhard Saftig. After 12 games, the Werkself were in second spot two points behind league leaders Bayern Munich. A dip in form followed with the first half of the season ending with Bayer 04 in sixth place. During the winter break, the then Bayer 04 general manager Reiner Calmund decided to bring in Dragoslav Stepanovic from Frankfurt as the new coach for the following season.
In the second half of the Bundesliga campaign, the Werkself picked up seven out of a possible 12 points (under the two points for a win rule) before facing Eintracht Frankfurt in the previously mentioned cup semi-final on 30 March. While the Hertha Berlin Amateurs surprisingly beat second division Chemnitz FC in the other semi-final, Bayer 04 and Eintracht Frankfurt were both in the top-flight. The team under head coach Saftig secured a convincing 3-0 victory over Eintracht who were then third in the table. The legendary front two of Ulf Kirsten and Andreas Thom (2) scored all three goals, to take the Werkself through to the final at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
Immediately after the game, the Eintracht coach Dragoslav Stepanovic resigned and was initially an adviser for his future employers Bayer 04. Five weeks later, general manager Calmund gave head coach Saftig his marching orders; Stepanovic took over the helm and the Werkself beat the Hertha Berlin Amateurs 1-0 – Kirsten scored the goal on 77 minutes – to lift the DFB Cup for the first time in the club's history.
Match stats from DFB Cup semi-final 1993:
Eintracht Frankfurt: Stein – Bindewald, Binz, Tskhadadze – Weber, Komljenovic (Studer 74'), Bein, Falkenmayer (Yeboah 72'), Bommer – Schmitt, Kruse
Bayer 04: Vollborn – Kree, Foda, Wörns – Stöver, Lupescu, Hapal, Fischer, von Ahlen (Scholz 67') – Thom, Kirsten (Tolkmitt 80')
Goals: 0-1 Thom (6’), 0-2 Kirsten (72’), 0-3 Thom (75’)
Referee: Manfred Harder
Booked: Tskhadadze, Schmitt – von Ahlen, Kirsten
Sent off: Bindewald (55.)
Attendance: 35,000 at Frankfurt's Waldstadion
This year - for the third time - the parents of the Bayer 04 youth players from the U8 to U15 age groups once again took part in the WDR Christmas Miracle. Under the motto "Goals against hunger in the world - parents in goal!", they organised their own fundraising campaign to once again actively support the important WDR campaign. The sum of €3,420 was handed over at the Glashaus in Essen in the middle of the week during the live programme.
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The Leverkusen eSports players picked up just one point on Tuesday 16 December in the remaining three matches of the online preliminary round of Showdown Three in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. As a result, the #B04eSports team once again miss out on going through to the offline knockout phase and now head into the winter break.
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Today, Tuesday 16 December (live on B04eSports Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports players face the final three matches of the online preliminary round of Showdown Three in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In addition to 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and SV 07 Elversberg, they will play Fortuna Düsseldorf, who are still unbeaten in this third showdown. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Whether it's the Lions Club, Teens, Bayer 04 Club or Silver Lions - there was a lot going on again this year in all age-specific members' clubs. We look back on an eventful year with numerous events and many exclusive moments with the Werkself. We take a look at what the year 2025 had to offer for the members of the Bayer 04 Club...
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