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.
The Bayer 04 Brazil Tour brought a surprising and emotional reunion of former teammates as current team manager Hans-Peter Lehnhoff met up with some of the club’s Brazilian legends, seeing some of them for the first time in 30 years.
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Day four of the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour is all about the Werkself friendly against the CR Flamengo U20 team. Before the kick-off at the Estádio da Gávea today, Friday, 18 July, at 14:30 local time (19:30 CEST), the Werkself players will warm-up at the team hotel. In addition: A communal evening event with a view of the famous landmark in Rio de Janeiro. Bayer04.de keeps you up-to-date with on the spot reports. Day four blog on the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour (timings in local time).
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The Werkself lost 5-1 against the Flamengo U20 team in the first pre-season friendly ahead of the 2025/26 season. The scorers for the Brazilian team, playing in the middle of their season, were Lorran (3’), an Arthur own goal (11’), Matheus Goncalves (40’), Pedro Leao (45+4’) and Gusttavo (55’). Head coach Erik ten Hag made several substitutions on 30 minutes and he made ten more changes on the hour mark. The Werkself were then more proactive on the pitch with the input from Granit Xhaka, Robert Andrich and Co. bringing significantly more attacking moves that led to a number of chances. Montrell Culbreath netted a consolation strike on 71 minutes for the final score of 5-1.
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A first win in the preseason: In the last friendly before the start of a two-week break in training, the Bayer 04 Women beat top-flight Dutch side Ajax 1-0. In the match played over three 30-minute thirds Vanessa Fudalla scored the goal for the Werkself. In the previous two friendlies this summer, the team led by head coach Roberto Pätzold lost 2-0 two Bundesliga rivals TSG Hoffenheim and drew 1-1 with the Dutch team PEC Zwolle.
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