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 penultimate Bundesliga matchday of the calendar year marks the end of an eventful first half of the season for the Bayer 04 Women. After seven wins, one draw and four defeats from the first twelve games of the season, coach Roberto Pätzold's team can go above Werder Bremen in the table with a win on Friday, 12 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET).
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The third showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 kicks off for the Leverkusen eSports team this Thursday, 11 December (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Red will once again take on six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round, which will take place at this third showdown on 19 December in Cologne. Showdown One winners Bayer 04 will face FC St. Pauli, who won the second showdown last month, among others. The lowdown on first three opponents in this online preliminary round.
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The exact dates for the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal have been finalised. Accordingly, Bayer 04's home tie against Bundesliga rivals FC St. Pauli will be played on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, with the kick-off at 20:45 CET. This was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) today (Thursday).
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After a strong first half, the Werkself conceded twice against Newcastle United in the UEFA Champions League but fought back and " deservedly earned the draw at the end", as captain Robert Andrich aptly put it. Despite opportunities for further Bayer 04 goals, the positive feeling about the irrepressible commitment the final minutes predominated. The Werkself review.
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Alejandro Grimaldo, of course! With his late equaliser (88') in the Champions League clash against Newcastle United, the Spaniard rescued a point for the Werkself, who took the lead through an own goal by Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes (13') but went with two goals for the visitors scored by Anthony Gordon (51') and Lewis Miley (74'). It was the third draw for Bayer 04 in the current 2025/26 campaign on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase.
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