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).
Former Bundesliga and Germany keeper Manfred Manglitz, who was promoted to the Oberliga West with Bayer 04 in 1962, passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
Show more
The Werkself fixture list for the 2026/27 season in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga has been finalised. To kick off the season, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team travel to RB Leipzig between 21 and 24 August. The fixtures were announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning. The season will conclude with a home match on 23 May 2027 against newly promoted side Mainz 05.
Show more
On Wednesday evening, Monheim City Council voted against a planning resolution for the Bayer 04 Campus on Alfred-Nobel-Straße in Monheim in a secret ballot, with 19 votes in favour, 25 against and one abstention. The legal status of the project therefore remains unchanged.
Show more
The Bundesliga has set the exact dates for the first four matchdays in the 2026/27 league campaign. Here is an overview of the fixtures.
Show more
