Zé Roberto visited the club a few weeks ago. He watched the training session, talked with Arthur and head coach Xabi Alonso and said hello to many employees he knows from his time at Bayer 04.
The midfielder made his debut for the Werkself in the summer of 1998. Four years later he left the club after 113 Bundesliga matches (18 goals), three runners-up finishes and one UEFA Champions League final. He went on to win four Bundesliga titles and four DFB Cups with Bayern Munich. He was named in the FIFA All-Star Team in the 2006 World Cup in Germany even though Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals. Bayer 04 fans included José Roberto da Silva Júnior, his real name, in their dream team to mark 40 years of the club being in the Bundesliga.
Zé Roberto finished his playing career at Palmeiras at the age of 43 in November 2017. He had led the team to one championship title and one cup triumph. And the Brazilian is still active now at the age of 50, including in the Baller League. He also offers online training programmes as a fitness influencer and has 2.8 million followers on Instagram.
The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...
Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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Bayer 04 is redesigning the public catering at the BayArena and Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion for the start of the 2026/27 season. Together with new catering partner Aramark, processes will be developed and the service at the stadium will be improved in a targeted way.
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The German Football Association (DFB) has officially recognised Bayer 04 as a centre for the development of female talent for the 2026/27 season. The club was awarded that role on 1 January 2026, and this status has now been renewed.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have sold young defender Andrea Natali to AZ Alkmaar on permanent terms. The 18-year-old Italian was on loan at the Dutch club last season, where he mainly played for the reserve team in the second division.
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