
There were again no elections held this year. New elections will be held in 2023. Linda Schöttler (Women), Friedhelm Renno (Council of Elders), Dirk Dreher (Veterans team) and Roman Klossek (Youth) plus Jürgen Gelsdorf as chair of the football section have all recently been confirmed in their posts.
The welcome from Jürgen Gelsdorf was followed by remembering Bayer 04 members who have passed away over the last twelve months. Then came the time to honour those members who have been part of TSV Bayer 04 for 25 years and longer. The following were honoured for 25 years of Bayer 04 membership: Thomas Gesella and Fabian Ewertz. Honouring for 40 years of membership went to: Dr. Andreas Offermann. Gerd Kruse could look back at 50 years of membership. And that’s not all: Jürgen Koller, Alfons Kanthak and Klaus-Dieter Hensgen have been loyal to the club for 70 years. All those honoured this year and from the past three years have been invited to attend a Werkself Bundesliga match next season.



The management on the podium then provided a review of the sporting year. Linda Schöttler, general manager of the Bayer 04 Women’s team started. Thomas Eichin, head of the Performance Centre at Kurtekotten, then reported on the work at Kurtekotten and Dirk Dreher presented the preview of coming events involving the Bayer 04 Veterans team.
No motions were submitted to the meeting.

The Champions League journey continues! On the eighth and final matchday of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26, Bayer 04 secured their place in the play-offs with a commanding 3-0 win over Villarreal. Malik Tillman put in a mature and combative performance for Leverkusen, scoring a brace (12', 35') to make it 2-0 at the break, while Alejandro Grimaldo (57') and plenty of control of the game did the rest in the second half. The draw for the Werkself's next UCL opponents will take place on Friday 30 January at 12:00 CET.
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The Leverkusen eSports team played the remaining three of the six matches in the online preliminary round of the fourth showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg were among the teams with the highest goal threat, including two World Cup participants in their ranks. Although the #B04eSports players were defeated in the matches overall, nine points from the first three games last week were enough for Leverkusen to advance to the offline round in Berlin on 2 February.
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A decisive showdown awaits: The Werkself are aiming to progress to the play-off round of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League with a home win against Villarreal CF on the eighth and final matchday of the league phase. Ahead of the match on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the importance of the game, the possible return of Edmond Tapsoba and a statement from new signing Jonas Omlin in an exclusive interview with Werkself TV. Lucas Vázquez, for his part, spoke about his role on and off the pitch as well as tomorrow’s opponents, who he often faced in Spain with Real Madrid.
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For Villarreal CF, the match at Bayer 04 on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), will be their last appearance on the European stage this season. The Spanish side, currently fourth in La Liga, are still without a win in the UEFA Champions League and, with just one point from their seven games so far, have no chance of making the play-offs. The 2021 Europa League winners can therefore play without any pressure at the BayArena and will be looking to bow out of the competition with a good performance. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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