Four more reports on the new Werkself shirt follow this week.
THE BADGE
A lion was the first trademark of the Bayer AG company over 150 years ago. The design was taken from the coat of arms of Eberfeld, home to the Friedrich Bayer & Co factories. The historic logo provided a source of inspiration for the JAKO designer David Blanch.
The lion image from the 1800s forms part of the Bayer 04 Leverkusen club badge. If you stroke your fingers across it it you can feel fine lines that reflect the look of that historic image.
THE LEVERKUSEN SKYLINE
One special detail on the new Bayer 04 shirt is on the inside of the collar. JAKO designer David Blanch has selected iconic buildings in Leverkusen to produce a skyline design.
On the left are Leverkusen terraced houses. Next to that is the facade of the BayArena with its familiar roof structure. The Lindner Hotel is in front of that.
The water tower is the largest element. The Bayer cross next to it is slightly smaller. Then comes the coach house and the town hall with Schloss Morsbroich on the extreme right.
ELEVEN STRIPES
WE ARE TEAM is the motto of the official kit supplier to Bayer 04 Leverkusen. JAKO have incorporated that concept in the new Werkself shirt. Eleven pin stripes are included on the chest to reflect the eleven players in the Leverkusen side. #TeamWerkself
The design of the kit is made more dynamic with different forms of stripes on the whole shirt. Lines are visible from the chest to the seam.
The team ethic is in the DNA of both partners. The JAKO company has built its success on a very close relationship with customers, retailers and partners alike. That is evident in the new Werkself shirt.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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