At the morning session on Tuesday, Kai Havertz, Julian Brandt and Co. we're back on the training ground. Karim Bellarabi and Sven Bender, who went off injured on Saturday, were missing. The pair will be rested for the forthcoming Europa League home game against FC Zürich on Thursday (21.00 CET) as Heiko Herrlich revealed after the training session: "It makes no sense taking a risk with Karim and Sven. I believe there's a good chance both will be fit for Sunday (League game at Leipzig - ed.), but we not going to commit hara-kiri," said the Werkself head coach. in any case, he announced his desire to rotate against the Swiss Cup winners. There is a final pre-match training session at the BayArena tomorrow night ahead of the game against Zürich. The next open session is planned for Friday at midday (subject to change).
Kai Havertz is indisputably one of the most promising talents in German football. At the age of 19, the Werkself number 29 already has made over 50 Bundesliga appearances (64 games, 10 goals and 17 assists) – more than anybody else at that age. His performances have been recognised with the award of the Fritz Walter Medal in gold for this year's best German youth player. Now he has the chance of a second big award this year: Since Monday, Havertz is in the running for sports personality of the year in North Rhine Westphalia (football category). Up to 3 December, it is possible to vote for the 19-year-old, who made his debut for the Germany U19 team at the start of September, at www.nrw-sportlerdesjahres.de. Moreover: There are six athletes from TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the running for the FELIX Award in Gina Lückenkemper (female athlete category and team category), Konstanze Klosterhalfen (female athlete category), Mateusz Przybylko (male athlete category), Markus Rehm, Felix Streng und Johannes Floors (all in disabled sport category). Good luck to everybody!
Ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga game against 1899 Hoffenheim, the Bayer 04 referee section collected over 50 referee shirts, shorts and socks plus other equipment for a good cause: The DFB referee Naemi Breier has voluntarily been collecting money and donations for various projects for world hunger relief to support activities in Africa in particular. Most recently it was in Rwanda where she supported the construction and modernisation of a primary school. Bayer 04 Bundesliga referee Laura Duske and Rahel Glombek, head of the referee section at the Werkself, became aware of this unique project and set about organising support. The great donation was handed over during half-time at the Bundesliga game by Jörg Kappenhagen (head of fans, memberships and community affairs).
In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
Show more
Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
Show more
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
Show more
With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
Show more
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…
Show more
