
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


The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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