“Despite his contract still having a year to run, we’ve granted Lukas Hradecky early release following very amicable discussions. It was his wish to be able to play as number one in the Champions League again after a magnificent and intense time at Bayer 04,” commented sporting director Simon Rolfes. “Lukas has made many friends at our club, both as a professional and as a person, and has made sporting history. He will always remain a part of Bayer 04,” Rolfes declared.
For Hradecky, this marks the end of “a personal era. Bayer 04 Leverkusen is the club where I’ve played the most professional matches, and I’m very grateful for that. I fell in love with the club and the fantastic fans at the BayArena. However, after the greatest success of my career, I now have the opportunity to fill the number one spot in Monaco and continue playing in the Champions League. It would be truly wonderful to perhaps return to Leverkusen via this route.”
The Werkself fell to defeat in their final friendly match of pre-season. The Black and Reds suffered a 2-0 (H-T: 1-0) defeat at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge. The hosts scored the first goal early on, with Estevao converting a rebound off the crossbar in the 18th minute. The second half was dominated by numerous substitutions on both sides, but the Blues still managed to increase their lead in the closing stages through Joao Pedro, who made it 2-0 in stoppage time (90’+1).
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Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be without first team squad members Exequiel Palacios and Jonas Hofmann for the time being. Both players suffered injuries to their left hamstrings during Tuesday's 3-0 friendly victory against newly promoted Italian Serie A side, Pisa SC.
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The last friendly ahead of the start of the 2025/26 season takes Bayer 04 to England: The Werkself are away to Club World Cup winners Chelsea on Friday, 8 August (kick-off: 20:00 CEST). The Bayer 04 Fan Liaison team brings you the latest information on the fixture at Stamford Bridge in London…
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There was a very special event for 50 of the over 70,000 Bayer 04 Club members on the afternoon of the Bayer 04 season launch event: At the press conference room at the BayArena, CEO Fernando Carro fielded lots and somewhat different questions from the fans. The Spaniard, under whose leadership since 2018 the number of members at Bayer 04 has almost tripled, shared his personal insight into the most important decision of his life and his way of managing staff.
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