04 days after the friendly at Wuppertaler SV (24 July), Bayer 04 are away to Fortuna Sittard who secured their return to the Dutch first division (Eredivisie) at the end of April. The club from near the border with Germany, finished last season as runners-up to the Ajax Amsterdam reserves (not entitled to be promoted) – a position that few would have predicted given their previous finishes (19, 16 and 17). On top of that, the club parted company during the campaign with their coach following disagreements with the former Nigeria international Sundaj Oliseh (43, also at Borussia Dortmund). However, under Portuguese interim coach Cláudio Braga (43),Fortuna Sittard remained on track to return to the top flight in Holland after a break of 16 years with a young team with an average age of 22.6 years.
Dutchman René Eijer (55) takes over as coach for the new campaign. The former Vitesse Arnhem player will have to manage without key player and captain Perr Schuurs. 30 June sees the end of loan deal of the 18-year-old Sittard homegrown player from league rivals Ajax Amsterdam. The club, founded in 1968, have produced a host of famous players with Huub Stevens (1970 to 1975), former Bayer 04 player Erik Meijer (1988 to 1989) and Mark van Bommel (1992 to 1999) starting their professional careers at Sittard.
The club play their home games at the Fortuna Sittard Stadium (capacity 12,500). The match against Bayer 04 is on 28 July at 18.00 CET.
After the friendly in Sittard, the Werkself pre-season includes games at SV Rosbach/Verscheid (18 July), Oberliga side Sportfreunde Siegen (21 July), Regional League Wuppertaler SV (24 July) and Spanish top-flight club Valencia (11 August).
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 as he worked 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 Leverkusen have extended the contract with U19 midfielder Jonah Berghoff ahead of schedule. The Germany U18 international has signed professional terms with the club to 30 June 2030.
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Two months of preparation, five friendlies and the return of a familiar training camp location: After finishing fifth in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga last season, the Werkself will return to training on Tuesday, 23 June. Bayer04.de outlines the key dates in the 2026 summer timetable.
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With sixth place at the end of the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign, Bayer 04 ended a season in the top third of the table for the ninth time in a row. While the Werkself were narrowly eliminated in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 by eventual finalists Arsenal, the Black and Reds reached the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal for the third season in succession. As in previous years, you once again have the opportunity to vote for your Player of the Season. Voting is exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members and only via the Bayer 04 app up to and including 11 June.
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