
The strike partner feels empathy all the time – for a good reason: “Kieß isn’t just anybody, he’s a legend! It’s really hard to describe how important he is for us and the club. We all hope he’ll soon be fit again.”
Chicharito is in good shape again. The misery after the embarrassing 7-0 defeat for Mexico against Chile in the quarter-final of the Copa America is long gone and the 28-year-old is now totally focussed on his job at Bayer 04. “We’ve got a really good group,” he said before adding: “Our hunger for success is growing ever larger.”
Good for Chicha is not good enough
Last season could hardly have gone any better for the clinical Mexican. 17 goals in the league was a record in his career to date and the Werkself sealed third place by some distance. However, the early exit from the Champions League annoyed Chicharito. “One more goal against Barca and we would have gone through to the Round of 16.” No surprise that reaching the last sixteen of Europe’s premier club competition is high on his agenda for next term.
And what else? “I never set myself personal targets like a set number of goals,” he said but continued: “I still want to improve. That includes our position in the league. For example, Leicester proved to the world anything is possible in football.” It is clear to everybody at Bayer 04 that there is a long way to go to reach that goal. But the ambition to fight it out at the top is alive more than ever with the Werkself these days.


Bayer 04 Leverkusen and sponsors club partner NRG24 are continuing their partnership, which has been in place since the summer of 2023. The Bundesliga football club and the energy consultancy firm have extended their successful partnership until 30 June 2027.
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Bayer 04 host VfB Stuttgart at the BayArena on matchday 8 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The game will be played on Halloween on Saturday, 31 October with the a 15:30 CET kick-off. The latest information on ticket sales.
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Bayer 04 host SC Paderborn at the BayArena on matchday 10 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season. The game against the newly promoted team is on Saturday, 21 November with the a 15:30 CET kick-off. The latest information on ticket sales.
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“School education: a key to success in a sporting career?” – this and other questions relating to dual training in sport, particularly in football, took centre stage at the EDU-DC Conference at the BayArena. The event, held in the Premium Lounge, brought together experts from top clubs and associations from 24 nations, including England, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. Representatives from Bayer 04 and TSV Bayer 04 provided insights into the interplay between school and sport at the Werkself.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 2-0 win at Viktoria Berlin in the first round of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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