News in brief: Europa League draw – DJ comparison

The DFB Cup final for the Black and Reds against Bayern Munich (2-4), delayed by six weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, was watched by 7.4 million viewers on television on Saturday night – 7 million on ARD and 440,000 on Sky. The market share of the ARD broadcasts was 26.6%. The Berlin police were not called out to any incidents involving football fans relating to the DFB Cup final in the capital. "Everything was quiet. There were no incidents," announced a representative on Sunday morning. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, there were no fans at the 74,000 capacity Olympic Stadium this year. Leverkusen fan liaison officer Andreas 'Paffi' Paffrath hit the nail on the head in an interview with the Express. "It feels like going to a party where the DJ has forgotten his music."

Carro: Great motivation

In the end everybody was agreed. "There is only one alternative: We have to do it again next year," said Bayern coach Hansi Flick about the first celebration without fans in his first final as head coach. And Fernando Carro, on behalf of the board at Bayer 04, identified "great motivation to get to the final again next year."

Bayer 04 and Europe

The day after the final at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, the Werkself players started a well-deserved two-week holiday. On Wednesday 22 July, the squad will undergo a coronavirus test in the evening, and then preparations will start for the Europa League. The European club competition will be played this year in tournament format from the quarter-finals in North-Rhine Westphalia. The games will be played in Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Cologne.

UEFA will make the draw for the continuation of the Europa League tournament on Friday, 10 July. Top European clubs like Inter Milan, Sevilla, AS Roma and Manchester United are in the mix. After the 3-1 away win in the first leg of the Round of 16 at Glasgow Rangers, Bayer 04 are on the verge of qualifying for the round of the last eight teams. The announcement on the venue for the return match against the Scottish team – the BayArena or one of the four venues mentioned – is expected this week.

Klink: "There's a lot of potential here"

Above all, thanks to the convincing 3-1 win in the Derby against FC: on the penultimate matchday, the Bayer 04 Women were able to celebrate staying up in the FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga. A couple of days after the end of the season, goalkeeper Anna Klink talked about the campaign in an interview with the Leverkusener Anzeiger. "Of course, I remember the good start to the season with the wins at home to Freiburg and in Munich," said the 26-year-old who signed for Bayer 04 in 2009. The Leverkusen women's team had a good season in the DFB Cup and only went out of the competition in the semi-finals against SGS Essen (1-3)

Klink concluded by looking forward to the next season and explained in response to a question about a possible transfer: "I really feel at home here. Everything fits in including with my job. Above all, I've got the impression that there's a lot of potential here with us. I'm really keen to be part of that development."

Two birthday boys

At the start of the week, two former Werkself players are celebrating their birthdays: Zé Roberto is a week older on Monday. The Brazilian joined Bayer 04 from Real Madrid in 1998 and play for the Werkself for four years. The now 46-year-old finally ended his playing career in November 2017.

The second birthday boy of the day is 21-year-old Tomasz Kucz who only left Bayer 04 last summer. After four years at Leverkusen – with the exception of a six-month loan in his native Poland – the keeper moved on to Portugal to play for Vitoria Guimaraes B – the club where the Werkself central defender Edmond Tapsoba used to play. Bayer 04 wishes happy birthday to both of them!