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 next friendly for Bayer 04: A week after the 2-0 win in Bochum, the Werkself are away to top-flight Dutch side Fortuna Sittard today, Friday 1 August (kick-off: 19:00 CEST). The latest information on the match at the Fortuna Sittard Stadion close to the German border is here in today's match news.
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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…
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The Werkself entertain Italian club Pisa FC, newly promoted to Serie A, at the official season opener at the BayArena on Tuesday, 5 August (kick-off: 18:00 CEST). Bayer 04 fans can look forward to a varied programme of events and exciting promotions. Tickets for the season opener are on open sale with over 18,000 tickets sold so far. Read on for the latest information.
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An experienced addition to the Bayer 04 U19 coaching staff: Former Werkself player Hüzeyfe Doğan starts as assistant coach to Sergi Runge on 1 August.
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