"Ahead of the two games, the target of going through to the next stage of the Champions League appeared to be very difficult. Now we have at least a minimal chance," said the Werkself skipper Lars Bender after the final whistle. The 30-year-old declared: "Our aim has to be to get on the scoreboard relatively quickly and thereby put pressure on the other stadium." Lars means the Wanda Metropolitano where the rivals for second spot, Atletico Madrid, will be entertaining Lokomotiv Moscow. The Spaniards need a win to be certain of finishing above the Werkself.
To be in a position to look at the result of the game, Bayer 04 obviously need a win. "The chance is there and we want to use it," said head coach Peter Bosz. Rudi Völler, sporting managing director, added: "We’re on a run. We want to beat Juventus and produce a great performance."
The flight for the Old Lady will land at Cologne/Bonn Airport on Tuesday afternoon. Unusually: The final pre-match training session will already have taken place. The Juventus coach Sarri decided to complete it before starting the journey to Leverkusen. There will be a press conference at 18.45 CET with the Juve coach and one of his players.
The impressive performances of Charles Aránguiz and Lucas Alario in the game against Schalke on the last matchday have made an impression. The sports journal kicker named the Chilean playmaker and the DFL the Argentine central striker in their teams of the day. The Bild Zeitung and the ARD TV sportschau named both Werkself players. Just deserts as Bayer 04 sporting director Simon Rolfes underlined: "Lucas got on the end of lots of balls – an impressive performance from him. And Charly is a key member of our team and you saw that again."
On the second advent Sunday, the Bayer 04 referees got together for an event at the Lindner Hotel at the BayArena. After a welcome from the former Werkself player Jürgen Gelsdorf, the guest of honour Stefan Kießling talked about one or two encounters with different referees and that raised a number of laughs. Rahel Glombek, director of the referees section at Bayer 04, reported on the first meeting of the referees representatives from the Bundesliga that took place several weeks ago.
The most important message on this entertaining morning before moving on to the communal lunch: The volunteer referees will play an important role at Bayer 04 in the future. Do you want to become a referee at Bayer 04? Then register at info@bayer04.de.
The former Bayer 04 player Ioan Angelo Lupescu today celebrates his 51st birthday. The Rumania international with 74 caps signed for Leverkusen from Dynamo Bucharest after the 1990 World Cup and he went on to play for the Werkself for six years. In 1993, the defender was part of the team that won the DFB Cup. Twice at the World Cup, he made 230 appearances for the Black and Reds scoring three goals and providing 14 assists. Today Lupescu works for UEFA but he did not miss the chance to take part in the club anniversary '40 years Bundesliga under the Bayer Cross'. Bayer 04 wish Ioan a happy birthday.
Most of the games in the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) are played on a Monday night. Only the live games are played on Thursdays – and this week the Bayer 04 e-sports players are on the free TV channel ProSieben Maxx. Kai ‘Deto’ Wollin and Fabian ‘B04_Dubzje’ de Cae play Hertha Berlin on the final matchday of 2019. It all kicks off at 22.15 CET.
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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