Bayer 04 have two games to play this term. After the goalless draw at Bremen and the day off at the start of the week, the focus of captain Charles Aránguiz and Co. will be completely on the next match from Tuesday – and it promises to be a good one: On Saturday, 15 May (kick-off: 15.30 CEST), Union Berlin visit the BayArena. A win against the team in eighth place would put the Werkself in the Europa League next season. To ensure the best possible preparation, head coach Hannes Wolf will hold training sessions every day this week.
Players, coaches and staff can still sleep at home with their families. Following training on Wednesday, the quarantine training camp decided by the German Football League (DFL) will start. In the period up to the last game of the season at Borussia Dortmund (22 May), the Bayer 04 team and staff will stay at the Lindner Hotel BayArena and be on the training ground.
Germany team doctor Tim Meyer believes it is realistic to see fans back for the start of the next Bundesliga season. “It definitely won’t be 100 per cent full straight away but hopefully games behind closed doors will not be needed if we assume the predictions regarding the infections are correct,” according to the head of the sports medicine/ special match in the Welt am Sonntag.
Regarding the start of the 2021/22 season on 13 August, Meyer said: “I hope and believe the protective measures can be significantly reduced next season.” The basis for the return of fans to stadiums is reduced incidence and, above all, a high rate of vaccinations.
Do you remember? Exactly eleven years ago, the farewell game for Bernd ‘Schnix’ Schneider was staged at the BayArena. Pure excitement, emotional words, numerous contemporaries on the pitch and 20,000 frenetic Werkself fans – it was a perfect stage for the last performance by our legendary number 25. HERE is the report from Bayer 04 TV again.
One year before Bernd Schneider joined Leverkusen, a certain Christian Wörns left the Werkself in 1998. The Mannheim-born player held the Leverkusen defence together for seven years. Wörns was in the Bayer 04 team that won the DFB Cup in 1993. He ended his playing career in 2008 and is now the coach of the Germany U19 team. Bayer 04 wish Wörns many happy returns on his 49th birthday.
The former Werkself head coach Jupp Heynckes celebrated his 76th birthday on Sunday. He was the Bayer 04 coach from 2009 to 2011. Belated congratulations, Don Jupp!
The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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