The Werkself squad will meet up at the BayArena around two and a half hours before kick-off for the 45-kilometre journey heading north on the team bus to Velbert. After an intensive week on the training ground at the BayArena, the match against the Zebras a few days ahead of the training camp in Salzburger Land is the first friendly of the preseason.
The team under head coach Gerardo Seoane will wear the new home kit in this opening match. At the start of the partnership with the new kit supplier, Bayer 04 and the top British brand Castore have come up with a special idea: Inspired by the Black and Reds supporters, the new shirt is based on the popular fan song 'Leverkusen allez' (Link to online shop). The Werkself goalkeepers will wear the new green goalkeeping shirt in the game against MSV
Anyone wanting to support the Champions League participants from Leverkusen in Velbert can buy tickets for the match at the IMS Arena from 13.30 CEST. The tickets cost €8 standing (concessions €6) or €13 for a seat, there are no additional matchday charges. All proceeds from the friendly go to SSVg Velbert.
Any fans unable to get to the match can watch the friendly against the Zebras live on the Bayer 04 official YouTube channel. Niko Hartmann, one of the voices of Werkself Radio, is the commentator on duty.
A look at the current Duisburg squad reveals that four players were at Bayer 04 in the past. While centre-forward Aziz Bouhaddouz only played for the Black and Reds in 2013/14, another current MSV trio came through the youth ranks at the Werkself: Chinedu Ekene (2006 to 2018), Kolja Pusch (2005 to 2013) plus Marlon Frey.
The latter join Leverkusen at the age of seven 2004 and went on to play in the Bundesliga. The versatile defender was at Bayer 04 for a total of 14 years – including a 12-month loan spell at FC Kaiserslautern. In an interview with bayer04.de, the 26-year-old talked about his commitment to the Werkself and friends for life from his time in Black and Red ahead of the game against his former club. Here is the interview.
There is an attractive programme of events with lots for children and whole families to do from noon around the IMS Arena. That includes a bouncy castle, food and drink and the Bayer 04 mascot Brian the Lion – there will also be plenty on offer off the pitch as part of the friendly between the Werkself and the Zebras.
In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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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 personalised 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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