The Werkself achieved the target for the season in the Bundesliga last weekend with qualification for the Champions League. Nevertheless, the head coach of the Black and Reds is determined to get a positive result in the final match in the current campaign. "We are approaching it as normal and want to give the supporters a good performance in front of a full house," explained Gerardo Seoane looking forward to the home game against SC Freiburg on Saturday 14 May (kick-off: 15.30 CEST).
While Kerem Demirbay remains a doubt and Karim Bellarabi is ruled out from returning to the squad in spite of being back on the training ground, there could be changes in the starting eleven. Seoane said: "Depending on possible injuries and performances in training."
The former Bayer 04 youngster Dominik Kohr has signed a permanent deal with Mainz 05 following an 18-month loan deal. The club from the Rhineland Palatinate announced on Thursday that the 28-year-old player from Eintracht Frankfurt has signed a four-year contract to 2026. The defensive midfielder joined Eintracht in July 2019 after eleven years under the Bayer Cross – with the exception of a period on loan at FC Augsburg.
Former Leverkusen player Hakan Calhanoglu has won the Italian cup competition with Inter Milan. In the derby d’Italia against Juventus the former Bundesliga player Ivan Perisic played a big part in the 4-2 win with Calhanoglu (2014 to 2017 at Bayer 04) levelling at 2-2 from the penalty spot. Inter are still in with a chance of the double as they are just two points behind city rivals AC Milan in the league.
Thomas ‘Tom’ Dooley celebrates his 61st birthday today (Thursday) – many happy returns from Bayer 04. The former defender played for the Werkself in the 1994/95 season. He made 82 international appearances for the USA during his playing career. The Werkself Magazine has produced an exciting profile of Dooley. Stay fit and healthy, Tom.
The second European away game takes the Werkself to the Portuguese capital Lisbon. Kasper Hjulmand's team will face record champions Benfica on Wednesday, 5 November (kick-off: 20:00 GMT, 21:00 CET) on matchday 4 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League. As usual, we will take you along on the #aCROSSeurope journey and report from Lisbon. The times given are Central European Time.
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The Werkself beat Benfica 1-0 on Matchday 4 of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League league phase to seal three crucial points! Both teams had promising chances in the first half, but the contest was goalless at half-time. Substitute Patrik Schick headed in to score the only goal after the restart (65’). The home side went looking for an equaliser but Bayer 04 defended passionately to see out the storm.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-1 win against Hamburger SV on the 9th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Werkself consolidated their position among the top teams in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga thanks to a last-minute goal on Wednesday evening. Roberto Pätzold’s team beat Hamburger SV 2-1 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Kristin Kögel (14’) and Caroline Kehrer (90’+5) scored for Bayer 04. The result takes Bayer 04 Women onto 19 points, third in the table behind top two Bayern Munich (25) and VfL Wolfsburg (22).
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One Bayer 04 player in particular is looking forward to the Werkself’s Champions League match away at Benfica on Wednesday 5 November (kick-off at 21:00 CET). Alejandro Grimaldo returns to his old stomping ground for the first time since he joined Bayer 04 two years ago. He encounters a Portuguese side that are unbeaten in the domestic league but under pressure in the UEFA Champions League having not taken any points, even under new coach José Mourinho. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in Lisbon.
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