Thanks to an exemption by the City of Hamburg and the neighbouring local authorities, the four semi-finalists in the Hamburg Association Cup were determined at the weekend. The two North Regional League sides, Eintracht Norderstedt and Jonathan Tah's former club Altona 93 now face each other on Sunday, 16 August. The meeting of the two Oberliga teams SV Rugenbergen and TSV Sasel is an hour later. A limited number of spectators are permitted at both matches.
The winner of the Hamburg Cup final, to be played on 22 August (kick-off: 14.45 CEST) as part of the Amateurs finals day, will be up against Lars Bender and Co. in the first round of the DFB Cup (11 to 14 September).
On 1 August, Bayer 04 released a 50-minute film to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Kai Havertz being at the club. This in-house production includes Germany teammate Tony Kroos, friend and former teammate Julian Brandt, Leverkusen's sporting director Simon Rolfes, head coach Peter Bosz and the two Bayer 04 managing directors Fernando Carro and Rudi Völler looking back at special moments with and by the prodigy. 'Kai – the Havertz Story | 10 years at Bayer 04 Leverkusen’ appears to have gone down well with fans and friends of the beautiful game. The film has had 500,000 hits on the Bayer 04 YouTube channel in less than two weeks.
There are not just impressive numbers on the video platform YouTube. Bayer 04 currently has 996,000 followers on Instagram – the magical million mark should soon be reached. The club from Leverkusen will be the third German team to achieve that number following on from Bayer Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Until 1970, the German Football Association (DFB) banned women and girls from playing football in Germany. That is now 50 years ago; a lot has changed since then. On Sunday, 16 August (18.30 CEST), the ARD Sportschau is broadcasting a report on that anniversary with the title, ‘Der größte Gegner ist das Klischee – 50 Jahre Frauenfußball’ ('The cliché is the biggest opponent – 50 years of women's football'). Interviewees include Bayer 04 player Jessica Wich (“Women now just want to do that they want and what makes them happy.”) and former Leverkusen player Merle Barth, who signed for Turbine Potsdam in the summer.
Bayer 04 remained unbeaten in the first 14 league games under Klaus Toppmöller, who took over the managerial hot seat at the Werkself in the summer of 2001. The Werkself were even top of the league at the halfway stage but the 2001/02 season ended with three runner’s up spots in the Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB Cup. Toppmöller coached the Black and Reds for 18 months. The Coach of the Year 2002, who last managed in 2008, celebrates his 69th birthday. Bayer 04 wish Klaus many happy returns!
Whether it's sport or his private live: Captain Edmond Tapsoba tells us his top three personal favourites in twelve categories in edition #56 of the Werkself Magazine. The defender had to answer as quickly as he reacts on the pitch. 'On the Podium' with Edmond Tapsoba!
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“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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A floodlit derby, two further night games and a top-of-the-table clash on a Saturday afternoon: The German Football Association (DFB) has confirmed the exact dates for four further matchdays in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. This means all fixtures for the Bayer 04 women’s team up to the end of the year, as well as the first two in 2027, are now confirmed.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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