The first friendly last Saturday was successfully negotiated with a 4-0 victory over Wuppertaler SV and now the second week of the pre-season brings the next two friendlies. And that will see Bayer 04 playing in red! The Werkself will be playing in the new home shirt for the first time. International players Kai Havertz, Tin Jedvaj, Aleksandar Dragovic and Paulinho could feature having returned to training on Monday following their extended time away due to their international duties.
Anyone wanting to watch the games live at the Academy can secure a ticket for three euros. They are available from the Bayer 04 Shop in Wiesdorf (Wiesdorfer Platz 9) and from the Fan House (Breidenbachstraße 46). Proceeds from the sale of the tickets will be donated to the Leverkusen Fan Project.
Our opponents:
Fortuna Sittard:
Last season's newcomers to the Eredivisie managed to avoid immediate relegation by finishing 15th in the table. Sittard return to the Dutch top flight in 2018 for the first time in 16 years. The top goalscorer last season was the American Andrija Novakovich with nine goals. The club played in Europe in 1984/85 reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners Cup where they lost out to Everton 5-0 on aggregate. In 1998 they took part in the Intertoto Cup losing 4-3 on aggregate to Austria Salzburg in the semi-finals. Last summer Bayer 04 beat the visitors from Sittard 2-0 in a friendly.
KAS Eupen:
Eupen ended last season twelfth in Belgium's Jupiler League. One player from last season is well known at Leverkusen: Julian Schauerte, brought through the youth ranks at Bayer 04, played for KAS last term but is now with third division side Preußen Münster. The 31-year-old defender previously played for Fortuna Düsseldorf and SV Sandhausen. Eupen have a lot of African players in their squad after the Aspire Zone Foundation from Qatar started investing in the club in 2012. Bayer 04 lost 2-1 to Eupen in a friendly at the Haberland Stadium in 2013.
In glorious sunshine and temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius, the Bayer 04 Women have begun their preparations for the new season. With a relaxed first session at the Kurtekotten training centre, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team became the first Bundesliga side to resume training after a 37-day break.
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Black and Red stand out. Under the slogan ‘Diversity under the Cross’, Bayer 04 took part in Pride on the Rhine at the weekend alongside the queer fan club “Bayer 04 Junxx”. The club mascot, Brian the Lion, and several members of staff were also in attendance, championing diversity and solidarity.
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Centre-back Melissa Friedrich is set to remain at Bayer 04 for another year. The longest-serving player in the squad, who joined the club in 2016, has extended her contract to 2027.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Portugal U21 international Afonso Moreira. The 21-year-old winger joins the club from French top-flight side Olympique Lyon on a contract to 30 June 2031. In France last year, the left-winger made 37 appearances in Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the UEFA Europa League, scoring a total of eight goals and providing eleven assists.
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