VfL Bochum are the first opponents following the return from the ten day training camp in Rio de Janeiro that includes a friendly. The match against the team relegated from the Bundesliga, which is the season opener for the hosts, is on Sunday, 27 July at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion with the kick-off at 18:00 CEST.
The Werkself are next in action five days later away to the top-flight Dutch club Fortuna Sittard on Friday, 1 August (19:00 CEST).
Tickets for the two games in Bochum and Sittard will probably go on sale from the first week in July. Further ticket information to follow.
The season opener at the BayArena is on Tuesday, 5 August. There will be a friendly in the early evening with information on the opponents and the kick-off time to follow. Tickets go on sale to Bayer 04 Club members from Tuesday, 8 July.
The Werkself play Chelsea in London in the final pre-season friendly ahead of the 2025/26 campaign. The match against the fourth-placed team in the Premier League and Club World Cup participants is on Friday, 8 August with the kick-off at 20:00 CEST (19:00 local time) at Stamford Bridge.
"That friendly at a top European level will be the sporting highlight of the pre-season. Our new Werkself team will play a top opponent in Chelsea a week before the start of the DFB Pokal and Stamford Bridge is a highly attractive venue for our fans. We are looking forward to a real big match in London," said Simon Rolfes, managing director sport at Bayer 04.
Tickets for the away game in England will probably go on sale after the first week of July. Further ticket information to follow.
The first round of the DFB Pokal is a week later on the weekend of 15 to 18 August with the Werkself away to SG Sonnenhof Großaspach. The 2025/26 Bundesliga season starts the following weekend and the fixture list will be published on Friday 27 June.
Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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