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.
Delivery fees have now been reintroduced to purchases from the Bayer 04 online shop.
Show moreThe seventh edition of the ‘Einfach Fußball’ ('Simply Football') Cup once again delighted participants and spectators alike. On Saturday in the Ostermann Arena in Leverkusen, around 200 sports-mad children, young people and adults with disabilities had the opportunity to compete with players from other clubs and to socialise off the pitch. A highlight of the tournament was the visit of two players from the Bayer 04 women's team.
Show moreRüdiger 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 personalised 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…
Show moreIt's the end of the annual Black and Red Week! Today, Sunday 1 December, there's an exclusive offer on Bayer 04 membership...
Show moreWerkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04’s 2-1 win at 1. FC Union Berlin on the 12th matchday of the 2024/25 Bundesliga campaign…