"We wanted to come back again anyway this year. We just really like it here," declared Michael Varutti, standing with many other fans at the training ground at the Alois Latini Stadium wearing his new Bayer 04 home shirt. The Leverkusen-born fan and decades long season cardholder used the nine Euro ticket for the journey, which can be bought in Germany in June, July and August for nine euros per month: "Of course, that affected our decision."
As this special offer can only be used on regional trains, the couple from Leverkusen-Wiesdorf decided to turn the journey to the training camp into an expedition. So, they planned a route from their hometown of Leverkusen in the direction of Zell am See with stops at some of their favourite places in Germany and Austria.
The 57-year-old and his two-years older wife Doro set off three days before the Bayer 04 players and staff. The final destination on the first day was Boppard. The small town in the Rhineland Palatinate with a population of 15,000 is south of Koblenz on the banks of the Rhine. "A nice little town that I know from my bike tours to Mainz," explains Michael Varutti who regularly travels to Werkself away games in Mainz and Mönchengladbach on his bike.
The couple covered a longer stretch on day two but had to make three changes on the way from Boppard to Munich: in Frankfurt, Würzburg and Nuremberg. "All the trains were very full," said Michael Varutti. But that did not bother the Leverkuseners: "We were lucky we got on at the start each time so we always had a seat." In Munich, they went sightseeing on foot in the afternoon and finally recharged their batteries for travel day number three in the direction of the Austrian border.
The third overnight stop came a few kilometres away from Austria. In Freilassing, a small town north-west of Salzburg, the Varuttis stayed at one of their favourite hotels and enjoyed the rest of the day in their favourite beer garden. They spent two nights there, going on a sightseeing tour of Salzburg and just enjoying the alpine panorama.
Friday morning, on travel day five, the destination was finally Zell am See. For the last stage in Austria, the couple made use of an inexpensive 'Einfach-Raus-Ticket'. The first activity in Zell am See: watching the Bayer 04 training session. With the view of the pitch right next to Zeller See, Michael Varutti said: "It's just beautiful here again and again!"
Michael Varutti had previously travelled to the Werkself training camp in 2018 and 2019. On his first visit, he was joined by his now 20-year-old son Henrik, also a big Bayer 04 Fan, on the journey to Zell am See using the FlixBus. A year later, Michael Varutti accompanied the Werkself fan liaison officer Frank Linde by car.
He wants to come back again next year. First there is another holiday planned for the autumn – and Varutti appears to have the first ideas of a itinerary in his head: "Let's see where Bayer play in the Champions League…"
The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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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 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…
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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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