The third of these charity matches saw the Schumacher & Friends team beat the Nowitzki All-Stars 7-5. Mick Schumacher, the captain of his team, scored to make it 2-0 by beating Dirk Nowitzki. The basketball legend played alternately in goal with Jens Lehmann, who was also on penalty duty – albeit with a shot against the bar. The list of goalscorers included Bayer 04 legend Stefan Kießling and Ulf Kirsten and Torben Hoffmann netted a hat-trick. Simon Rolfes, Fredi Bobic (Eintracht Frankfurt sporting director), Maxi Kleber (basketball) Moritz Fürste (hockey), Stefan Kretzschmar (Handball), Leon Draisatil (ice hockey), Fabian Hambüchen (gymnastics) and a host of other athletes, including para-athletes, made up the two sides.
Pietro Lombardi was also amongst the goalscorers and, after the trophy was presented, he performed two of his songs 'Señorita' and 'Phenomenal'. There was also music at half-time for the 11,028 spectators provided by Lucas Rieger. Dirk Nowitzki and Mick Schumacher received a cheque in the sum of €100,000 for the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation and the Keep Fighting Foundation and afterwards they spent over an hour signing autographs for the fans at the BayArena.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A rematch in Athens: On Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), the Werkself face Greek double winners Olympiacos for the second time this season at the Karaiskakis Stadium. After the encounter in the league phase, it's now time for the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-offs. Ahead of the game, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how his side will approach the clash, while captain Robert Andrich explained how the team will try to dampen the atmosphere in the stadium tomorrow.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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