Fernando Carro as chairman of the board at Bayer 04 Leverkusen and member of the UEFA Club Competitions Committee assesses the decision of the executive committee as follows: "Performances have to be rewarded, increased commercial interest in the modern football business is legitimate. But, at the same time, it is crucially important to protect the roots of the sport and the idea of open competition as we know it. This area of conflicting priorities is very complex due to the different interests in European club football. For me, the agreed reform of the European club competitions from 2024 was and is a viable and sensible compromise.
That is even more so in view of the plan to set up a closed Super League. It is unfortunately solely driven by financial aspirations and also financial need. This would go against the fundamentals of football in many areas. This initiative unfortunately shows a lack of touch by the people involved in relation to the consumers, the fans.
As Bayer 04 Leverkusen, we decisively reject this alternative format and will work together with the German clubs in UEFA and the ECA to do everything we can over the next two years to implement the reform in 2024 in the interests of football.
Particular thanks go to Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund for resisting the temptations of the Super League and thereby clearly committing to the Bundesliga. It would also be desirable for politicians in Germany to clearly speak against the foundation of a closed, pan-European club competition."
The new format of the Champions League sees an increase of the current 32 teams to 36 from 2024. The competition will be carried out in future according to the so-called Swiss model. Every cub plays ten group matches against ten opponents drawn out according to seeding. That will produce an overall table of 36 teams with the top eight clubs going through to the knockout rounds. The teams in positions nine to 24 will be involved in play-offs the knockout rounds.
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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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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A memorable 12 months: 2025 was a year marked by success, intense competition and groundbreaking innovations for the #B04eSports team. After ending the 2024/25 season as runners-up, the Leverkusen-based console pros got down to business in a new, completely restructured season model, in which showdowns rather than divisions were the decisive factor on the road to the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 quickly earned a place in the history books of the most prestigious competition in German eSports and secured some valuable advantages for the coming year. Bayer04.de takes a look back at 12 months full of passion and the determination to take the next step.
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