
Stadium announcer Petra ‘Pitti’ Dahl opened the event and acted as the presenter for the evening. After the sponsors were welcomed by the Bayer 04 directors Fernando Carro and Rudi Völler, there was the informative part of the event. In between the three courses served up, last season and the recently completed training camp in Zell am See in Austria were reviewed before coach Peter Bosz, sporting director Simon Rolfes and captain Lars Bender came on stage for an entertaining round of discussions.
Then everybody was on their feet for the table football tournament. The sponsors, Werkself players and the Bayer 04 management were divided up into teams and first played each other in a group stage of four rounds with games of four minutes each way. The Bayer 04 reporter for the visually handicapped, Björn Nass, provided a live commentary for the semi-finals and the final. The 'La Parisienne' team, made up of the two Werkself players Jonathan Tah and Moussa Diaby plus Dr Andreas Eurich, CEO at Barmenia, were the winners. In a shower of confetti, Stefan Kießling presented the trophy to the victors and the evening finished with relaxed discussions and networking.












Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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