
This is a joint action of the German Football League (DFL) and the clubs. Head coach Gerardo Seoane spoke about developments in Eastern Europe at the pre-match press conference, clearly affected by the situation: "Of course, it's a subject of discussion in the dressing room for all the players and coaches plus the staff. Seeing images like that is a great shock to all of us. We condemn war in any form and are convinced that everything should be done to get back to the diplomatic path to find a solution without war."
Moreover, Bayer 04 has decided to show our feelings towards the war in Eastern Europe in and around the game. A number of entertainment elements will be dropped and no carnival music will be played. The club asks for your understanding.
Today's match against Arminia Bielefeld will be refereed by Martin Petersen. The 36-year-old was in charge of his first game in the Bundesliga in 2017. With the estate agent in charge, the Werkself have a record in the Bundesliga of one win, one draw and one defeat. The most recent Leverkusen match under Petersen was on 13 December 2020 and that ended in a 4-1 home win against TSG Hoffenheim.
The match official from Stuttgart will be assisted by Alexander Sather and Robert Kempter, Felix Zwayer is the VAR referee. Have a good game.
Werkself LIVE gives Black and Red fans the chance to get the most important information on the current matchday ahead of the kick-off against the team lying fourteenth in the table. The programme is available at the BayArena – alternatively it is also online. This season's new Bayer 04 matchday magazine provides interesting facts and stats on the game between the Werkself and the team from East Westphalia. On the back there is a poster of Paulinho. Click HERE for the e-paper.
Alternative Werkself Radio: As Niko Hartmann and Cedric Pick are unable to report on the match between the Werkself and Bielefeld at the BayArena due to illness, reporters from the Bayer 04 radio service for the visually impaired will commentate on the full 90 minutes. 22 years ago, Bayer 04 were pioneers in the Bundesliga and since then live reporting for all visually impaired Bayer 04 fans has been an essential part of every matchday.

Despite a major personnel shake-up in the summer, RB Leipzig have performed impressively this term. Ahead of matchday 15, coach Ole Werner's team are second in the Bundesliga with a three-point lead over their upcoming opponents Bayer 04. This Saturday, 20 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET), the Werkself are away to RBL who are strong at home. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The German Football League (DFL) has scheduled matchdays 20 to 24 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The dates at a glance.
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This year - for the third time - the parents of the Bayer 04 youth players from the U8 to U15 age groups once again took part in the WDR Christmas Miracle. Under the motto "Goals against hunger in the world - parents in goal!", they organised their own fundraising campaign to once again actively support the important WDR campaign. The sum of €3,420 was handed over at the Glashaus in Essen in the middle of the week during the live programme.
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On Tuesday evening, Bayer 04's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer and its employees welcomed some very special visitors to the company's Christmas market at its headquarters in Wuppertal: Werkself players Robert Andrich, Mark Flekken, Loïc Badé, Jarell Quansah and Malik Tillman spent lots of time with Bayer 04 fans of all ages in the early evening – and also helped to serve drinks such as Glühwein (mulled wine) and delicious food.
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The Leverkusen eSports players picked up just one point on Tuesday 16 December in the remaining three matches of the online preliminary round of Showdown Three in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. As a result, the #B04eSports team once again miss out on going through to the offline knockout phase and now head into the winter break.
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