The team under head coach Gerardo Seoane face a quality side in last season's sixth-placed team in the Eredivisie who have established themselves in the top six of the Dutch league in recent years. German football fans will know about the former Hamburg and Bremen player Eljero Elia. The squad under the 49-year-old head coach René Hake is made up – as is usual in the Netherlands – of several experienced players (Urby Emanuelson, Adam Maher) as well as a lot of youngsters. The Utrecht goalkeeper is Eric Oelschlägel, twice a Super Cup winner with Borussia Dortmund and the only German player in the team.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the capacity at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium is 350 and all the tickets have already been sold. Fans were able to buy tickets for five euros with the proceeds going to the 'Leverkusen hilft' campaign organised by the Leverkusen community foundation, which is supporting victims of the floods financially.
Bayer 04 are broadcasting the second friendly for the Seoane team, with new signing Odilon Kossounou set to make his first appearance, live on the club's YouTube channel. The broadcast begins at 15.50 CEST with Niko Hartmann of Werkself Radio providing the commentary. Former Werkself keeper Ramazan 'Rambo' Özcan will share his assessment of the friendly and also talk about his new role as U19 goalkeeping coach at Bayer 04 at half-time.
HERE is the link to the live stream on YouTube.
Less than a year ago, Kerim Alajbegovic moved from the Bayer 04 U19s to Austrian top-flight club FC Red Bull Salzburg. The forward’s development since then has been impressive. In 36 matches, including in the UEFA Europa League, the 18-year-old has scored 14 goals. In the summer, Alajbegovic, now a Bosnia international, will return to Leverkusen - and thus not only achieve the next milestone still early in his career, but also enrich the Werkself squad with his footballing versatility and determination.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with forward Nathan Tella ahead of schedule. The versatile 26-year-old, who can be deployed as a right winger, false nine or left winger, has penned a new contract to 30 June 2031. Tella joined the Werkself from Championship club Southampton in 2023. His previous contract ran to the summer of 2028.
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Nathan Tella has extended his contract with Bayer 04 to 2031. In an interview with Werkself TV, the 26-year-old talks about fulfilling his dreams, his positive outlook on life and his goals for the future. He answers the questions in English - all except the last one, which he addresses directly to the fans...
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In the final international break in the current 2025/26 campaign, Bayer 04 striker Patrik Schick with Czechia will be battling for a place at the World Cup. Meanwhile, national teams that have already qualified, include other Werkself players called up, are involved in friendlies in the build-up to the World Cup. Read on for an overview of the Leverkusen internationals and their match dates.
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The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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