
Carnival Sunday is also time for 'Carnival at Bayer!' – and to make the BayArena as colourful as possible, all visitors to the stadium for the Werkself game against FC Augsburg (kick-off: 15.30 CET) are cordially invited to come to the game in costume. As a special carnival offer, all the kiosks will sell doughnuts for one euro each. A little tip: Be careful when you bite into your doughnut as three of them are filled with mustard. Anybody who has this tasty experience can look forward to receiving a Werkself shirt with name and number as required. Enjoy your food and good luck!
There will be major travel disruption getting to the game against FC Augsburg on Sunday: The traditional carnival procession is being held in Wiesdorf. It starts at 13.33 CET in the area of the Europaring/Friedrich-Ebert-Straße, then proceeds through Wiesdorf via the main street and ends by the Rathaus Galerie (Wöhlerstraße).
The A1 autobahn is again closed this weekend from the Cologne North interchange in the direction of Dortmund to the Leverkusen Rhine bridge due to the demolition of a bridge. The A1 can be used from the Leverkusen West interchange. In the direction of Koblenz, the A1 can be used as far as the Cologne-Niehl junction. At the Leverkusen interchange, the link from the A3 from Oberhausen to the A1 in the direction of Koblenz is closed. The same applies to the link from the from the A3 from Frankfurt to the A1 in the direction of Koblenz.
We recommend all visitors to the stadium arrive in good time.
Once again this year, the Schwadbus will again be on the road in carnival processions. Today, the Lowenclub in Hitdorf are on board, the Bayer 04 Club and the Silver Lions are in the parade on Saturday (from 13.33 CET) in Schlebusch. Teens04 will be throwing sweets on Sunday in Wiesdorf (from 13.33 CET) and Bayer 04 members of staff will represent the Black and Reds in the Opladen procession on Rose Monday (from 14.11 CET).
Another costume? We've got something for these crazy days! A cowboy hat or braces with a Bayer 04 look go perfectly with the club shirt on match days. And the Bayer 04 Carnival scarf is also a must. Just pop into our shops...?
Please note the amended opening times for the fan shops and service centre:
City shop (Wiesdorf):
Friday: 10-20 CET (open as normal)
Saturday: 10-18 CET (open as normal)
Sunday: closed
Rose Monday: closed
Bayarena shop:
Friday: 10-17 CET (open as normal)
Saturday: closed
Sunday: from stadium opening to 45 minutes after the final whistle
Rose Monday: closed
Bergisch Gladbach shop:
Friday: 10-18.30 CET (open as normal)
Saturday: 10-16.30 CET (open as normal)
Sunday: closed
Rose Monday: closed
Service centre:
Friday: 8-20 CET (open as normal)
Saturday: 8-14 CET (open as normal)
Sunday: 8-15 CET
Rose Monday: closed


Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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Bayer 04 start the 2026/27 season away to third-division side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Ahead of the DFB Pokal tie on Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez spoke at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The topics: anticipation, passion, the fans’ support – and the captaincy for the new season.
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SV Wehen Wiesbaden undoubtedly envisaged a different start to the new season. After two matchdays, the Hessen side currently sit bottom of the Liga 3 table. On Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), SVWW host the Werkself in the first round of the DFB Pokal at their home ground, the BRITA Arena. It was there, in this very competition a year ago, that the club almost pulled off a massive upset. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Farid Alfa-Ruprecht is going out on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Bundesliga 2 side Hertha Berlin. The pacy winger will be at the Berlin club for one year.
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