
“I’ve experienced great things and played in fantastic games for this club. I have grown very close to Bayer 04,” Karim Bellarabi said himself a few days ago. The eleven-time Germany international was unable to play against Borussia due to a muscle injury but he was a key element of the match on Sunday night in front of a full house at the BayArena.

Just before kick-off , the managing directors Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes presented him with a collage of photos from more than ten years under the Bayer Cross, the fans celebrated the crowd favourite with a striking Bellarabi song. During the 90 minutes of action on the pitch, Bellarabi supported his teammates as usual with great enthusiasm from the sidelines..
After the final whistle, Karim Bellarabi did a lap of honour with his teammates behind him – starting in front of the West Stand, then to the South Stand via the East Stand before finishing in front of the North Stand. Warm embraces with each and every fellow Werkself player was followed by climbing onto a podium at the home end.






Bellarabi was given a megaphone and he led the singing with thousands of Bayer 04 fans dressed in red. When he left the pitch at the BayArena for the last time as a Werkself player, “Karim Bellarabi – oh, oh, oh!” rang out from the stands…
Goalkeeper Andrey Lunev, Daley Sinkgraven, Ayman Azhil and Callum Hudson-Odoi also received farewells before kick-off. Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes thanked the four departing Werkself players for their time and commitment in a Bayer 04 shirt and also presented them with a photo collage.

Andrej Lunev joined Bayer 04 from Zenit St. Petersburg in the summer of 2021 and he made three appearances. The 31-year-old Russian has been ruled out through injury over recent months. Ayman Azhil started at the Black and Reds at the age of seven and he progressed through all the junior teams. With the exception of a two-year spell on loan at top-flight Dutch club RKC Waalwijk (2020-2022), Azhil, who played in one Bundesliga game, always remained loyal to Bayer 04.
Daley Sinkgraven can look back at four years in Leverkusen. The versatile Dutchman, signed from Ajax in 2019, made 78 appearances (six assists). Callum Hudson-Odoi joined the Werkself on loan from Premier League club Chelsea at the start of the season and the winger played 21 games and was involved in two goals for the Black and Reds.

Calling all eSports fans: On Saturday, 21 February (from 16:00 CET), the Werkself Wildcard Cup will take place at XPERION Köln (Hansaring 97, 50670 Cologne). Interested EA FC 26 amateur players will have the opportunity to win attractive prizes and a place in the VBL Open Play-offs by WOW. The play-offs are the final preliminary stage of the VBL Grand Final by WOW, the tournament for the German individual championship and, alongside the club championship (VBL CC), the most important sub-competition in the German eSports scene. Read on for information on registration.
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The Bayer 04 U19s have bowed out of the UEFA Youth League following a thrilling knockout game. In the round of 32 at Villarreal, Emmanuel Chigozie Owen (11) and Ivan Massek (18) turned an early deficit into a 2-1 half-time lead. However, the Spaniards struck back in the second half to make the final score 3-2, which earned them a place in the round of 16 and brought the Werkself's European campaign to an end.
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