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.
There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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Bayer 04 go into the first of two successive clashes with Borussia Dortmund boosted by their Champions League win at Manchester City. Ahead of the Bundesliga top match on Saturday, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the tight schedule, BVB's strengths and returning squad members.
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Borussia Dortmund are doing very well in terms of points and results in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. BVB have only suffered two defeats to date this term. Now coach Niko Kovac's team are away to the Werkself on Saturday night, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET) in the top match on Bundesliga matchday 12. The two teams meet again three days later in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie in Dortmund. Two very competitive encounters are on the cards. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Bayer 04 Women clcoked up a 3-2 win in a friendly against Twente Enschede on Thursday afternoon in the last international break of 2025. In drizzle, Lilla Turanyi (16’), Kristin Kögel (65’) and Paulina Bartz (69’) scored the goals for the Werkself against the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen leaders, who are still unbeaten in the league.
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