
This time Karim Bellarabi took time out to visit the Media Centre at the BayArena on Wednesday afternoon to answer the many questions from the 100 girls and boys present. Karim provided insights into his private life and he described his path to becoming a professional footballer – the fulfilment of his dreams. As a child, he played with his mates on the street every day and even took football to bed with him at night as the eleven-time Germany international explained. The 28-year-old also gave his young audience tips about how to make it as a professional footballer..
The German Football League (DFL) is continuing to promote the overseas marketing of the Bundesliga. On Tuesday an office was opened in New York. "The USA represents the biggest and most important sport and media market in the world. In terms of our sustainable, long-term growth against this background, it is only logical that the DFL is better represented here than before," said DFL CEO Christian Seifert. The Werkself were represented by Fernando Carro, the spokesman for the management plus marketing and communications director Jochen A. Rotthaus and former pro Stefan Kießling.

Talking about Stefan Kießling. Five-months after his last appearance in professional football, 'Kies' has continued his career at Bayer 04. At the start of the month, the 34-year-old took up his post as sporting management adviser. How he has settled into his new environment and what his future roles are will probably revealed when he appears on the football talk show Doppelpass on Sunday. The league game against Hannover 96 could also be a subject for discussion. The programme is broadcast live by SPORT1 from 11.00 CET.

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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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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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 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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