The French forward was enthusiastic: "The atmosphere was great as was the performance! It's brilliant to see there's another high quality sport in Leverkusen alongside the football," he said after the game.
The city has long been known for a close relationship between Bayer AG, football and many other top level sports. The stories will be bundled together under the name Bayer Sports Family and presented on the digital channels with the matching hashtag #BayerSportsFamily.
The first episode of the brand-new format 'Bayer Sports Family' duel was shown on the Bayer 04 YouTube channel for the start of the play-offs in basketball. This includes Werkself skipper Lukas Hradecky in a free shot challenge at the Ostermann Arena against the 7-foot-tall centre Dennis Heinzmann of the Bayer Giants. To make it fairer, Hradecky was able to choose one of three handicaps for the basketball player. Which it was and who sank the most shots can be seen HERE.
Adli and Hradecky are not the only Bayer 04 players to be guests at TSB Bayer 04 Leverkusen this year. The Bayer 04 Women’s team were recently at the Ostermann Arena to provide support for the Werkself handball side. And Bayer 04 have also enjoyed the support of Bayer athletes this season. The whole of the Bayer Giants team and the pole vaulter Torben Blech who commentated on the game against Hertha Berlin (2-1) for Bayer 04 on Instagram and Snapchat.
All this plus further information, fixture announcements, entertainment formats from the big Leverkusen sports family will be available in future on all digital channels under #BayerSportsFamily. Have a look!
Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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