Bayer 04 is showing its true colours: As with World Prematurity Day (purple) and the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (orange), the BayArena will again be lit up today. As part of the 15th Rare Disease Day, the Leverkusen home ground will be lit up from 18.30 CET in the colours pink, blue, green and purple changing every minute. The Werkself is thereby making a clear statement for a diverse society.
Background to the day of action: 300 million people worldwide live with chronic and rare diseases. Since 2008, the umbrella organisation of the Allianz Chronischer Seltener Erkrakungen e.V. (ACHSE) in Germany raises awareness of the campaign every year on the last day in February and calls for more research, therapies and treatments as well as a better, longer life for those affected. In addition, the campaign is also about social acceptance and participation. Many of the 8,000 diseases classified as "rare" are associated in part with severe physical and mental disability.
Back to sport: Following the fifth win in the seventh Bundesliga match for Bayer 04 in 2022, several Werkself players have received praise in the media. Kicker awarded top marks for the performances by Florian Wirtz, Moussa Diaby and Edmond Tapsoba And the trio were also named in the kicker team of the matchday. Wirtz and Diaby are also included in the side named by the BILD newspaper.
TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen can look back at a successful weekend: The athletes won gold, silver and bronze at the German Indoor Championships in Leipzig. Congratulations to the medal winners Torben Blech, Bianca Stichling, Christoph Garritsen, Mateusz Przybylko, Judith Franzen, Franziska Schuster, Amelie Dierke and Annkathrin Hoven.
Bayer 04 as the first club abroad: The Polish centre-forward Arkadiusz Milik decided to join Leverkusen at the age of 18 in January 2013. The 6 foot 1 forward played for the Black and Reds for six months before loan periods at FC Augsburg and Ajax a season later. He signed for the top Dutch club in the summer of 2015. After being at Napoli, Milik is now playing for Olympique Marseille in France – and he has scored 16 goals in 26 games. The former Werkself player today celebrates his 28th birthday. Many happy returns.
After being nominated for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025, Martin Terrier's wonderful strike for the opener against FC Köln is now also up for selection for the ARD Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2025. Bayer 04 fans have until 19:00 CET on 10 January to vote for the French forward.
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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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"In every ending lies a new beginning" is a well-known saying. This phrase has probably never been more apt at Bayer 04. After winning the Bundesliga in 2023/24 and finishing as runners-up in 2024/25, the summer was the most eventful ever in terms of transfers. Over ten players and the coach, including the coaching staff, left the club. A lot of the heroes of the double-winning side began a new chapter. It was the end of an era. And at the same time the beginning of a new, very exciting and promising chapter for Leverkusen. The Werkself welcomed more than a dozen new arrivals, including experienced title-winners and young talents, to build a new "foundation for a successful team capable of winning titles" under the Bayer Cross, as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. A new spirit, a new hunger, a new story was to be created. Bayer04.de looks back at the first few months of this story and the final act of the preseason.
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43 points at the end of the last Bundesliga season were not only more than ever before for the Bayer 04 Women, but also led to a record fourth-place finish. That was followed by a Hinrunde with many more victories, but also some setbacks. In an interview with bayer04.de, sporting director Achim Feifel takes stock at the end of the year.
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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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