
"Kim Falkenberg has made a decisive contribution to the sustainable development of Bayer 04 over recent years," said Rolfes in praising the former Leverkusen youth and second division player. "The quality of our current squad is also down to his work and that of his colleagues who Kim leads in a motivational, effective and prudent way. He is an important part of our strong management team and we are happy that we can build on Kim's sporting expertise."
Falkenberg started working with the scouting department at the Werkself in 2018 immediately after ending his playing career at VfL Osnabrück. Initially in the youth section, he was the head scout at Bayer 04 a year later. Falkenberg became head of recruitment in 2023 as he took his next step at the club. "It's an honour to now be able to work as director of football at Bayer 04. The close cooperation with Simon Rolfes is based on mutual trust," said Falkenberg. "I'm very much looking forward to continuing our joint path with the target of winning new titles and establishing the club long-term at the top of German and European football."

Having progressed to the DFB Pokal Round of 16, the Bayer 04 Women do not have much time before their next Bundesliga fixture. On Friday night (18:30 CEST), coach Roberto Pätzold’s side kick off matchday six at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against Werder Bremen – and they have a clear mission.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Bayer 04 host top French club Marseille at the BayArena on matchday four in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League group stage. The match kicks off on Thursday 5 November at 21:00 CET. The latest information on ticket sales.
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During the international break, Bayer 04 will face third-division newcomers SC Fortuna Köln on Friday 2 October (kick-off: 11:00 CEST). The match will be played on training pitch 1 at the BayArena, as preparations are already underway at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for the Bayer 04 women’s Bundesliga home match against Werder Bremen, which is due to kick off in the early evening. To ensure the friendly against Fortuna Köln runs smoothly and without disruption, it will be played behind closed doors.
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