The BayArena was lit up in purple on Thursday evening. For the seventh year in succession, Bayer 04 have again lit up a coloured beacon to raise awareness of the subject of premature birth and the associated effects on children and parents on World Prematurity Day. Every tenth child is born prematurely. The Klinikum Leverkusen, for many years associated with Bayer 04, is one of the most experienced maternity hospitals in the region with 1,600 births per year. Over 80 premature babies under 1,500 grammes – including 40 premature babies under 1,000 grammes – receive medical care at the Klinikum Leverkusen every year.
Thanks to the extremely high quality of care, even the smallest premature babies with a birthweight of 500 grammes or less can survive. Many other buildings across the globe such as the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building have been lit up in purple in recent years as part of World Prematurity Day.
The Bayer 04 group today (Friday) set off home at the end of the #Bayer04USATour. Jonathan Tah and Co. have enjoyed a range of activities in St. Louis in Missouri since last Sunday 13 November. In addition to two training sessions, the players visited the Bayer AG research centre in Chesterfield. A guided tour through the legendary Busch Stadium, home to the baseball team St. Louis Cardinals, and watching college basketball match were on the Werkself agenda as well. They were also involved in community projects and a cultural programme during the tour.
The sporting highlight came on Wednesday 17 November with the friendly between the Werkself and St Louis CITY SC, a new club in the Major League Soccer (MLS). The friendly played at the brand-new CITYPARK Stadium ended in a 3-0 victory for the team led by head coach Xabi Alonso. The Werkself experiences on the #B04USATour can be found HERE.
Talking about Alonso: The 2010 World Cup winner can be happy with an impressive statistic. Since taking over as head coach of the Werkself at the beginning of October, the Spaniard has coached the team from Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on seven matchdays – the record: four wins, one draw and two defeats. These games include victories against Schalke 04 (4-0), Union Berlin (5-0), FC Köln (2-1) and VfB Stuttgart (2-0). That makes the Black and Reds the fourth best team in the last seven Bundesliga matchdays with three wins in succession most recently and there has only been one defeat in all competitions in the last seven matches – may that continue.
The former Werkself player Alois Reinhardt today celebrates his 61st birthday. The former central defender joined Leverkusen from FC Nürnberg in 1984 and he went on to make 189 appearances the Black and Reds up to his departure in 1991. During his time under the Bayer Cross, the former Germany international won the UEFA Cup in 1987/88. Reinhardt was in the starting line-up in both legs of the final of the competition against Espanyol. Bayer 04 wish Alois a happy birthday.
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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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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A memorable 12 months: 2025 was a year marked by success, intense competition and groundbreaking innovations for the #B04eSports team. After ending the 2024/25 season as runners-up, the Leverkusen-based console pros got down to business in a new, completely restructured season model, in which showdowns rather than divisions were the decisive factor on the road to the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 quickly earned a place in the history books of the most prestigious competition in German eSports and secured some valuable advantages for the coming year. Bayer04.de takes a look back at 12 months full of passion and the determination to take the next step.
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