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.
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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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with U19 midfielder Jonah Berghoff ahead of schedule. The Germany U18 international has signed professional terms with the club to 30 June 2030.
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Two months of preparation, five friendlies and the return of a familiar training camp location: After finishing fifth in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga last season, the Werkself will return to training on Tuesday, 23 June. Bayer04.de outlines the key dates in the 2026 summer timetable.
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With sixth place at the end of the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign, Bayer 04 ended a season in the top third of the table for the ninth time in a row. While the Werkself were narrowly eliminated in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 by eventual finalists Arsenal, the Black and Reds reached the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal for the third season in succession. As in previous years, you once again have the opportunity to vote for your Player of the Season. Voting is exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members and only via the Bayer 04 app up to and including 11 June.
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