Who will come out on top? Midfield dynamo Robert Andrich is involved in a very special duel today (Monday) – albeit not on real turf. The Werkself number eight is taking on supporters of the Black and Reds, who have previously applied through the club's social media channels, in the #B04eSports event ‘#BeatThePro’ in two FIFA clashes. And that's not all: eSports player Marc ‘marc_LDW23’ Landwehr is also challenging Leverkusen supporters in two matches.
It all kicks off at 17.00 CET on the Bayer 04 Twitch channel. Click here for the live stream.
A total of 15 players started the second week of training during international break on Monday afternoon fresh and recovered. It was straight into the action with a range of passing drills and small-scale matches. In addition to the Werkself players, Seoane welcomed youth players onto the pitch. Six U19 players made up the training group. That included Sadik Fofana, Noah Pesch, Aaron Tshimuanga, Felix Erken, Joshua Eze and Ingyom Jung.
Other particularly good news: Andrey Lunev was able to complete his first session with the team since his ankle injury.
The transfermarkt.de website has updated the market values of Bundesliga players during the international break. And the figures are interesting: Bayer 04 are top in terms of improvement of squad value. The Werkself leads the Bundesliga table with an increase of 4.1%, that is €17 million. The Black and Reds are followed by TSG Hoffenheim with an increase of €14 million putting them amongst the biggest winners in the league.
Also, Moussa Diaby was able to increase his market value by €10 million – the France international is currently worth €55 million. The Werkself now have an overall market value of €434.5 million.
Bayer 04 pay tribute to the longstanding sports journalist and ZDF head of sports Dieter Gruschwitz. Gruschwitz passed away on Sunday 27 March at the age of 68. Gruschwitz was born in Neuwied, Rhineland Palatinate and he started his TV career in 1979 with the Sender Freies Berlin broadcaster. He moved on to ZDF in April 1996 and in his role he covered the World Cup finals in France in 1998 and in South Korea and Japan in 2002. From 2004 he was the head of the sports editorial office.
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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