"Bayern did dominate but we had the better chances," was the assessment by Fernando Carro, the Bayer 04 CEO, of the 1-1 draw in Munich. (Here is a link to Carro's statements on BILD TV). Jeremie Frimpong again played a big part in those promising opportunities. The Werkself's Dutch full-back once again ceaselessly ran up and down the line on his flank, was relentless in his challenges and marked FC Bayern's world-class winger Kingsley Coman out of the game as best he could.
The 21-year-old was justifiably included in the kicker Team of the Matchday. The football journal awarded a high mark of 2 for Frimpong's performance. The Rheinische Post awarded the same mark to Jonathan Tah and Charles Aránguiz. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger gave Edmond Tapsoba a 2.5.
Once a striker for the Werkself, Stefan Kießling is now involved with coordination of the senior squad at the Werkself. The Bayer 04 honorary captain has experienced a lot before and after the end of his playing career in the summer of 2018. The 38-year-old talks about that time and current issues involving the Bundesliga in today's edition of 'kicker meets DAZN'. The podcast is available now at kicker.de, on the kicker app as well as all usual podcast platforms.
Today (Monday), Bayer 04 congratulate Patrick Schnarwiler on his 49th birthday. The Werkself assistant coach moved under the Bayer Cross last summer from Switzerland together with head coach Gerardo Seoane. The duo won two league titles and the domestic cup competition with Young Boys Bern in their home country. Schnarwiler joined Young boys in 2019 from Grasshoppers where he was assistant coach with the first team and later head coach of the U21s. His post in Leverkusen is the first outside Switzerland – and it has proved to be very successful to date. Happy birthday, Patrik.
And former Werkself player Kurt Eigl celebrates his 68th birthday today. The Hockenheim-born player signed for Leverkusen after our Bundesliga promotion season in 1979/80. Before that he played for SV Darmstadt 98 and was at Hamburg SV for four years. The midfielder won the DFB Cup (1976) as well as the European Cup Winners Cup (1977) with the Hamburg. Many happy returns, Kurt.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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