"Julian gives us a lot of stability and his experience is an important factor in our game," declared Rudi Völler, the Bayer 04 managing director sport. Sporting director Simon Rolfes sees Baumgartlinger as "an extremely hard-running and ball-winning player. You can rely on Julian and, with his top professional attitude, he plays a significant role both on and off the pitch."
Baumgartlinger was captain of Mainz 05 in 2016 before he joined the Werkself. "Leverkusen have made it possible for me to play at the highest level in the Champions League and the Europa League – and we are one of the best clubs in Germany. It's great fun being an important part of the team at this level and remains a great challenge," said Baumgartlinger.
Video game producer Electronic Arts (EA) has announced the nominees for the Men's and Women's Team of the Year (TOTY) for EA Sports FC 26. With Patrik Schick and Alejandro Grimaldo for the men and Vanessa Fudalla for the women, there are three Bayer 04 players included. Fans of the Black-and-Reds can vote for each top XI of 2025 from now until 18:59 CET on Monday 12 January.
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The long-standing successful collaboration between Bayer 04 and the transport service provider wupsi GmbH has been expanded: From January 2026, 100 wupsi bikes with Bayer 04 branding will be available for hire throughout the city of Leverkusen. They will complement the many existing offers and services that provide key support, especially for fans travelling to and from home matches at the BayArena.
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The Werkself are back! Following the two-week winter break, head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team began the new year with an open session on Sunday. After Robert Andrich and his teammates arrived in Leverkusen yesterday for the official check-in, they got back down to business a day later in front of around 1,200 fans at the Ulrich Haberland Stadion. The report from the Werkself's first session of 2026.
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In her debut season of 2024/25, Cornelia Kramer immediately became the top scorer for Bayer 04 Women. However, the Danish national team striker was stopped by an injury at the start of the new season. Now, just in time before the end of last year, she is fit again – and has extended her contract early until 2027. In this interview, the 23-year-old talks about the reasons for her decision and looks ahead.
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