
"Leverkusen are currently one of the best teams in the world," highlighted Mexico national team boss Lozano, around 10 years after his previous visit to the BayArena for a Werkself home match. "The way they play and go about it is very impressive. Bayer 04 and the Bundesliga have been highly regarded in Central and South America for many years and attract great interest. We Mexicans love watching the games of clubs like Bayer 04, Dortmund or Bayern."
Lozano used his visit to Leverkusen to learn a thing or two about the day-to-day work of the coaching team led by Xabi Alonso and the club's management. "Xabi, his staff and the entire club are doing a great job," said the 45-year-old: "That's also being heard in Mexico. The positive development of the club is being followed with great interest there."

After attending the Werkself's training session on Tuesday outside the BayArena, Lozano and his three fellow coaches also used the time under the Cross to hold talks with Bayer 04 bosses, including CEO Fernando Carro. "We are happy about every exchange and every new experience that we can take away from such trips," said Lozano, who also visits the Mexican internationals playing in Europe with his coaching team.
For the Mexican national team, the CONCACAF Nations League semi-final against Panama is on the horizon in around four weeks' time. Then in the summer there's an unusual highlight: Mexico, like the USA and Canada, will take part in the Copa America, the South American continental tournament. The three nations from the North and Central American Football Association will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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Rüdiger 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 personal 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…
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