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.
A disciplined defensive performance in the second leg saw Bayer 04 prevail against Olympiacos in the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26. Thanks to the 2-0 away win in the first leg, the goalless draw at home at the BayArena was enough to ensure progress to the next round. The Black and Reds kept their opponents away from their goal for the best part of 90 minutes.
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Bayer 04 can go through to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the ninth time tonight, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET) and be in the top 16 clubs in Europe. A good omen: Leverkusen have progressed to the next round after winning the first leg in 20 of their 22 knockout rounds in European competitions to date. For their part, Greek record champions Olympiacos rested several players for last weekend’s league fixture ahead of the play-off second leg at the BayArena and will now do everything in their power to turn the tide with their usual aggressive and high pressing. The discussions on Werkself radio are likely to be just as intense as the battle on the pitch, with commentator Florian Bechholz welcoming honorary captain Stefan Kießling and goalkeeper Mark Flekken. Today’s matchday news.
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With the advantage of the 2-0 first-leg win in the play-offs, the Werkself are looking to book their place in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League at the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the home game against Olympiacos on Tuesday, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand and goalkeeper Janis Blaswich spoke about the position ahead of the match, the visitors' strength at set-pieces and a personnel issue for the home side.
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With a win in the Greek Super League last weekend, Olympiacos achieved success on the pitch ahead of the UEFA Champions League play-off second leg at Bayer 04 on Tuesday, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET). Coach José Luis Mendilibar rested many of his regular starters.
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