Due to the coronavirus pandemic, unfortunately there will be no season launch at the BayArena this year. But Bayer 04 have thought up something special for the supporters: On Saturday, 12 September, there will be the digital kick-off for the 2020/21 season. From 15.30 CET, the club will broadcast live on bayer04.de and YouTube – 24 hours before the first match of the season for the Werkself.
In addition to a number of guests, supporters can look forward to entertaining interviews, interesting photos and a prize competition. Who's going to take part? – We will let you know via our club channels over the course of the week.
One day after the kick-off, the Werkself entertain Eintracht Norderstedt at the BayArena. The team from the Hanseatic city won the Hamburg State Cup at the end of August and now meet the Black and Reds in the first round of the DFB Cup on Sunday, 13 September (kick-off: 15.30 CET). Eintracht lost 3-1 to Weiche Flensburg in their opening league fixture at the weekend: There will be more information on the North Regional League side on bayer04.de over the course of the week.
From the first team to the youth teams: In the penultimate friendly ahead of the start of the U19 Bundesliga West season, the most senior Bayer 04 youth side demonstrated their resilience. The Black and Reds entertained the Eintracht Frankfurt U19s at Kurtekotten. The visitors took the lead on 56 minutes but Leverkusen substitute Okan Keskin, with an assist from Luca Wesemann, levelled the scores at 1-1 (89') late on. There is another friendly against Wolfsburg on Saturday, 12 September (kick-off: 14.00 CET). The league kicks off the following week with the Borussia Mönchengladbach U19s visiting the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
The Leverkusen U17s are also in the final stages of their pre-season. They also played Eintracht Frankfurt in Dillenburg. That match ended in a 4-3 defeat but the coaching duo of Jan Hoepner and Thomas Zdebel were satisfied after the final whistle. After another friendly at Hannover 96, the Bayer 04 U17 team start the new Bundesliga season with an away fixture at Fortuna Köln on 19 September.
A DFB Cup winner is 55! Andreas Thom celebrates his birthday today (7 September). The former player joined Bayer 04 from FC Berlin (now BFC Dynamo) in 1990 and he went on to make an impressive 161 appearances for the Werkself in the Bundesliga up to 1995, scoring 36 goals and providing 41 assists along the way. His biggest success: the DFB Cup win with Bayer 04 in 1993.
And Markus Münch, at Leverkusen from 1994 to 1996, also celebrates his birthday at the start of the week. Markus is 48. The U21 international made 57 top-flight appearances for the Werkself – more than he did for FC Bayern (49), Mönchengladbach (45) and FC Köln (13). Münch’s goal in the ‘relegation final' in May 1996 remains legendary: The defender levelled the scores at 1-1 on 82 minutes in the game against FC Kaiserslautern to secure first division status for the Black and Reds.
Bayer 04 wish the duo: Many happy returns!
Today's news in brief unfortunately ends with a bereavement: Peter Rübenach played for Leverkusen from 1967 to 1969 and he won the Oberliga with the Werkself in 1968. The former Leverkusen player passed away at the end of August at the age of 72. Former Werkself teammates attended his funeral. We send our condolences to his family and friends.
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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