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.
Ibrahim Maza joined Bayer 04 from Hertha Berlin in the summer of 2025. The youngster from Berlin developed into a difference-maker in his first season with the Werkself. Find out what makes the highly talented player tick in this very personal interview. Among other things, Maza talks about his Algerian-Vietnamese-German home, the role of his family and the importance of Islam for him both in his private life and in football...
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Bayer 04’s Ibrahim Maza is among the three nominees for the Bundesliga’s 2025/26 Rookie of the Season award. Fans have until 23:59 CEST on Thursday, 7 May to cast their votes in the official Bundesliga app.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Bayer 04 Women have kept their chance of qualifying for the Champions League alive in the Bundesliga run-in. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team won 4-0 at SGS Essen on Sunday afternoon, improving their record from last season to 14 wins this term. With 43 points, the Werkself equalled another record from the 2024/25 season and at the same time reduced the gap to third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt to two points, at least for tonight. Loreen Bender (4’), Kristin Kögel (41’, 68’) and Cornelia Kramer (89’) scored for the Black and Reds, who dominated the game to record their fourth win on the bounce.
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