The Werkself are set to play Celta Vigo who finished eighth in La Liga last term. The clash with the team from the Spanish Atlantic coast will be played at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Saturday, 31 July with the kick-off at 16.00 CEST. The meeting with the Spaniards is the final friendly for Bayer 04 ahead of the opening match of the season, the DFB Cup first round tie away to Lokomotive Leipzig at the beginning of August. Before that there are games against SV Wehen Wiesbaden (14 July) and FC Utrecht (28 July).
Bayer 04 and Celta Vigo played each other in a friendly in August 2017. Back then the clash was the highlight of the season launch event at the BayArena with the game ending in a 3-3 draw with three goals for the Black and Reds in nine minutes (Mehmedi, Pohjanpalo, Volland).
During the training camp in Salzburger Land, the Werkself will play SC Freiburg on departure day (23 July). The Bundesliga clash at the Gernot Langes Stadium, home to WSG Wattens, kicks off at 14.00 CEST. The team and staff will fly back to Germany from Innsbruck after the game.
Celta Vigo profile:
After four years in the bottom half of the table, the club from north-west Spain had a good season last term. After the Argentinian Eduardo Coudet took over as head coach from Oscar Garcia in November of last year, the Galicians only just missed out on qualifying for the newly founded Europa Conference League. Vigo finished up a solid eighth in the table with 53 points to achieve their best finish since 2016.
A strike duo have played a big part in that: Stalwart Iago Aspas scored 14 goals in La Liga and Santi Mina netted 12. Familiar faces from the Bundesliga are striker Emre Mor (formerly Borussia Dortmund) and left back Aaron Martin who returned to Mainz 05, for the time being, at the beginning of July after his six-month loan spell in Spain.
14 July
Bayer 04 vs SV Wehen Wiesbaden, Kurtekotten or Ulrich Haberland Stadium (kick-off: 17.00 CEST)
16-23 July
Training camp in Zell am See/Kaprun
23 July
Bayer 04 vs SC Freiburg, Gernot Langes Stadium in Wattens (kick-off: 14.00 CEST)
28 July
Bayer 04 vs FC Utrecht, Ulrich Haberland Stadium (kick-off: 16.00 CEST)
31 July
Bayer 04 vs Celta Vigo, Ulrich Haberland Stadium (kick-off: 16.00 CEST)
6-9 August
DFB Cup First Round: FC Lokomotive Leipzig vs Bayer 04
14 August
Bundesliga, matchday one: FC Union Berlin vs Bayer 04, An der Alten Försterei stadium (kick-off: 15.30 CEST)
27 August
Europa League group stage draw
16 September
Matchday one in the Europa League
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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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 personal 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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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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