
The Werkself will land at Cologne/Bonn Airport at around 1.30pm on Sunday. They will then travel in the team bus to Morsbroich Castle to sign the city of Leverkusen's Golden Book. From there, the team will travel to the BayArena in a parade of open-top vehicles.
The route leads from Morsbroich Palace to Gustav-Heinemann-Straße and then along Bismarckstraße to the BayArena.
The approximately 40,000 free tickets for the stands and the interior of the stadium were quickly sold out. The BayArena opens at 12.30pm and the event starts at 1.30pm. We ask all ticket holders to come to the stadium early! This will avoid delays due to long queues at the entrance after the team arrives. Please note that your ticket for the BayArena expires when you leave the stadium after your first entry. For security reasons, it is not possible to re-enter the stadium.
Numerous well-known bands such as Culcha Candela and the Hermes House Band as well as regional artists such as Peter Lorenz and Dirk Maverick will be performing on stage inside the stadium during the course of the afternoon. All information about the musical programme can be found HERE.

As with the Werkself's home matches, payment for food and drinks will be cashless only. Ticket holders are requested to dress appropriately for the weather (rain or sun protection).
There will be offers for travelling to and from the stadium as follows:
How to access the BayArena:
The event at the BayArena ends at 19.04 (7.04pm).

Fans can also join in the celebrations on this special day under the Stelze motorway right next to the BayArena. From there, the events from Morsbroich Palace as well as the Werkself parade and the programme from the BayArena can be followed on large screens. This means that the fans under the bridge will also be able to enjoy all the festivities. No tickets are required for access to this area.
This area also opens at 12.30pm, the programme also starts at 1.30pm and is scheduled to end at 19.04. Cash payments are accepted at the catering stands and cashless payments are also possible at the drinks stands.
There will be offers for travelling to and from the event as follows:
Our partners Früh, Bitburger, Coca-Cola, Monster Energy, Bayer AG, Barmenia, BERGISCHE Krankenkasse and Tipwin will have catering, merchandise and promotional stands on site.
The city of Leverkusen has also put together all the information on "Coming Home". Click here for the overview (in German).
Bayer 04 will be broadcasting the "Coming Home" celebrations live and free of charge in the app, on Werkself-TV and on YouTube. Click here for the livestream!

It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
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