“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.”
Having progressed to the DFB Pokal Round of 16, the Bayer 04 Women do not have much time before their next Bundesliga fixture. On Friday night (18:30 CEST), coach Roberto Pätzold’s side kick off matchday six at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against Werder Bremen – and they have a clear mission.
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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 working 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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Bayer 04 host top French club Marseille at the BayArena on matchday four in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League group stage. The match kicks off on Thursday 5 November at 21:00 CET. The latest information on ticket sales.
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During the international break, Bayer 04 will face third-division newcomers SC Fortuna Köln on Friday 2 October (kick-off: 11:00 CEST). The match will be played on training pitch 1 at the BayArena, as preparations are already underway at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for the Bayer 04 women’s Bundesliga home match against Werder Bremen, which is due to kick off in the early evening. To ensure the friendly against Fortuna Köln runs smoothly and without disruption, it will be played behind closed doors.
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