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.
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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The Werkself began 2026 with defeat, losing 4-1 at home to VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 16 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga. Jamie Leweling opened the scoring early, with Maximilian Mittelstädt making it 2-0 from a penalty before Leweling again and Deniz Undav increased the lead to 4-0 just before half-time. Alejandro Grimaldo's penalty reduced the deficit midway through the second period.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen has gained a new partner in digital gaming platform Crown Coins, which joins the Bundesliga runners-up's Sponsors Club with immediate effect. The one-and-a-half-year contract runs until 30 June 2027.
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The Werkself host VfB Stuttgart this evening (10 January, 18:30 CET), a side whose recent Bundesliga form has been indifferent but who have regularly produced top performances in the DFB Pokal and UEFA Europa League, and who have a key player back in the squad in striker Ermedin Demirovic. Off the pitch, the BayArena faithful will be able to see the remaining stoppage time live on the video screens. The Matchday News.
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