He is a renowned knee specialist: Dr. Philipp Ehrenstein has been a consultant at the Helios Clinic in Krefeld with main responsibility for arthroscopic surgery on shoulders and knees as well as ankles. The focus of his work is on the reconstruction of ligament injuries in the knee joint – including anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments as well as meniscus surgery.
After the Helios group was taken over by St. Josefshospital Uerdingen in Krefeld at the start of the year, the Bayer 04 orthopaedic surgeon has now been appointed doctor in charge of the newly founded sports clinic at the hospital. The doctors for the ice hockey Bundesliga team Krefeld Pinguine and the team doctor of the Germany rowing eights team also work there. We wish Philipp Ehrenstein every success in his additional professional challenge.
During his ten years at Leverkusen, Kai Havertz developed into a top international player – and now he can call himself a Champions League finalist. The Aachen-born player joined Bayer 04 in the summer of 2010 as a talented 11-year-old. After a decade in the Werkself shirt plus numerous records at the club and in the Bundesliga, the star striker joined Chelsea last summer.
Havertz has recently flourished under the German coach Thomas Tuchel and last weekend he scored a brace to give Chelsea a 2-0 home win against Fulham. Wednesday night brought the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals. The former Leverkusen player started up front against Real Madrid and crowned his good performance with an assist for Timo Werner who opened the scoring. The London team won the game 2-0 and the first leg in Spain ended all square at 1-1. Havertz and Chelsea now face Manchester City in the Champions League final on 29 May. Congratulations, Kai - now get your hands on the trophy.
Bayer 04 last year produced a 50-minute documentary on the likeable, grounded home-grown player who made the impressive development from a talented lad from Mariadorf into one of the top international players. Germany teammate Tony Kroos, friend and former teammate Julian Brandt, Bayer 04 sporting director Simon Rolfes and the two managing directors Rudi Völler and Fernando Carro look back at special moments with and involving Havertz. HERE is the film.
Another competition, the same aim: The former Bayer 04 goalkeeper Bernd Leno (2011 to 2018) is also looking reach a final on the European stage with Arsenal on Thursday night – in the Europa League. The first leg at Villarreal ended in a narrow 2-1 defeat with the away goal giving the London side a good chance of reaching the final in Gdansk (Poland). The match in London kicks off at 21.00 CEST with RTL Nitro broadcasting the game involving Leno and Co. and is also being being shown live by DAZN. Good luck, Bernd.
Hanno Balitsch and Andreas ‘Zecke’ Neuendorf also used to play for Bayer 04 but have now ended their playing careers. Both decided for a move to the dugout. Last year, the former players together with 23 other participants took part in the 67th coaches course at the DFB and they recently celebrated a successful conclusion to the course.
Midfield enforcer Balitsch, since last year assistant coach with the Germany U20s, made 136 appearances for the Werkself. Neuendorf, now assistant coach at Hertha Berlin, played in 65 games for the Black and Reds. Whole-hearted congratulations from Bayer 04.
Like last year, Bayer 04 Women held their summer training camp in Rieden. Coach Roberto Pätzold gives his assessment of the time in the Upper Palatinate, discusses the integration of the 11 new players and the unusual team building measures, gives his thoughts on the friendly and looks ahead to the start of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga season in August.
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Just in time for the start of the summer holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Werkself will hold another open training session on Tuesday 21 July. The session at the BayArena is scheduled to start at 11:00 CEST and will again be available to watch in a live stream. The fans who are there can look forward to a very special surprise.
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Bayer 04 turned in a dominant performance in a 7-0 win against fifth-tier side Sportfreunde Baumberg in their first friendly ahead of the 2026/27 season. A brace from debutant Afonso Moreira (19', 27') either side of a Christian Kofane strike (23') put the Werkself 3-0 up in the first of the two 35-minute halves in Monheim am Rhein. After the break, Victor Boniface (49', 53'), Robert Andrich (56') and Nathan Tella (67') scored for the completely changed Leverkusen team. It was therefore a successful friendly debut for new head coach Carles Martínez and his team, although the hosts also had something to celebrate despite the defeat: the match marked the inauguration of Baumberg's new ground, the MEGA Stadion.
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Attention, Werkself fans: the new Away Matchday Collection is now available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt. It includes t-shirts, zip tops and jackets.
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