Thousands of cities and millions of people are taking part in the Earth Hour climate protection campaign organised by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) in 2021. Bayer 04 are once again joining in on Saturday 27 March under the motto: Switch that light out! The BayArena will be in darkness from 20.30 to 21.30 CET as will the Ostermann Arena, the Water Tower and the Town Hall Gallery, to take a joint stand for climate and environmental protection.
As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a call to avoid people gathering at the named landmarks. People can take part in the campaign from home by switching off the lights in their own four walls at the appointed hour.
The campaign started on 31 March 2007 in Sydney. It is now the biggest climate and environmental protection campaign event in the world.
Top match time at the Ulrich Stadium. The Bayer 04 Women host Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday night, 26 March. This will be a meeting of the teams fifth and seventh on matchday 16 in the FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga. The Werkself Women will be looking to at least maintain their eight-point lead over Frankfurt. Eurosport will broadcast the match live from Leverkusen with the kick-off at 19.15 CET.
Born in Ghana, Hans Sarpei grew up in Cologne from the age of two. He played for a number of clubs in Cologne in his youth and he finally made the step-up to professional football at the end of the 1990s at Fortuna Köln. Via MSV Duisburg and VfL Wolfsburg the left-back returned to the Rhineland in the summer of 2007 – under the Bayer Cross to be exact. Sarpei spent three years at the Werkself, making 42 Bundesliga appearances for the Black and Reds.
At the end of his playing career in 2012, the former Leverkusen player moved into the TV business with his own coaching broadcast on SPORT1 and he won one series of the dance show ‘Let’s Dance’. The 44-year-old has started a new project and is now a book author. Sarpei has written a cookbook with the title ‘Hans Sarpei’s Football Cuisine’. This is aimed at ambitious youth footballers. Sarpei says: “We want to show the connection between nutrition and performance.”
There are a few birthday greetings on this Friday: Schahriar Bigdeli, Werkself fitness coach, is 41. The four-time German champion in long jump started working for Bayer 04 in 2006 and he works closely with the head coach and his staff in looking after the fitness levels of the Werkself players.
Another birthday boy works for the Werkself: Falko Götz, who was a key player for Bayer 04 in the 1980s and a UEFA Cup winner in 1988 with the Black and Reds, is now part of the sporting management. Götz is 59 on this Friday.
The third in the group is Mike Rietpietsch, now 47 years old. Born in Eberswalde, the midfielder joined the Werkself from Union Berlin at the age of 20 in 1994. He stayed for three seasons and played 22 Bundesliga games during that time. His career took him to Fortuna Düsseldorf, VfL Bochum and Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. Bayer 04 wish the trio: Many happy returns!
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will to have manage without forward Eliesse Ben Seghir. The Morocco international suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle before the AFCON final defeat against Senegal (0-1 a.e.t.).
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The VBL Club Championship 2025/26 continues. Tonight, 27 January (live on Twitch and on the Bayer 04 app from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports team will play the remaining three matches in the online preliminary round of Showdown Four. They are up against FC Kaiserslautern, SC Freiburg and the current club champions and Showdown Three winners RB Leipzig, with whom Bayer 04, club runners-up and Showdown One winners, shared some memorable moments, especially last year. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Jonas Omlin. Bayer 04 have signed the 32-year-old goalkeeper on loan from Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach until the end of the season. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes described the Swiss shot stopper, signed by the Werkself in reaction to the long-term absence of first choice keeper Mark Flekken, as an "internationally experienced keeper." Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the new signing, who will wear the number 18 jersey.
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Under the motto ‘Sound of Dreams - #aCROSS Europe 2025/26’, Bayer 04 are turning this season's UEFA Champions League season into a festival. In addition to a Spotify playlist that fans can use to get in the mood for the Champions League nights, there is also a tour pass with stickers for the respective UCL matches exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members. These could be picked up in the respective weeks of the matches. The sticker for the final clash in the league phase (Villarreal, 28 January, 21:00 CET) is now available at the Fanwelt. The competition for all diligent sticker collectors is also now open. Read on for further information.
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