Bayer 04 honorary captain Stefan Kießling was one of 14 candidates to receive a certificate on Tuesday evening for the successful completion of the 'Management in professional football' course. The 38-year-old was part of the first year of the programme started by the German Football League (DFL) and the German Football Association (DFB) two years ago.
"The course was very interesting and lively from the first day because it covered the broadest range of areas and subjects. The focus was not just on the transmission of knowledge but also the intensive exchange of information with each other," said Kießling who moved into the sporting management at the Werkself after ending his playing career in 2018 and today he is responsible for coordinating the senior squad.
The Bayer 04 honorary captain was on the course alongside former players including Marcel Schäfer, Christian Gentner, Thomas Kessler and Sascha Riether. The second year of the programme started in October 2021.
The executive committee of the European Football Union (UEFA) has approved the reform of European club competitions from the 2024/25 season. UEFA has come to an accommodation with the critics of the reform of the Champions League decided in April.
The new format of the Champions League, which Bayer 04 CEO Fernando Carro worked on as a board member of the ECA, envisages an increase of 32 to 36 participants with the competition played according to the so-called 'Swiss model'. However, the original idea of two of the four additional places being allocated according to a five-year ranking of the club's was rejected. In a compromise, these two additional places will go to the countries whose teams perform best in the previous European competition season. In addition, the number of qualifying games will not increase from six to ten but instead to eight.
Werkself defender Jonathan Tah enabled a large number of children to enjoy a very special experience last weekend: The 26-year-old, who has been an ambassador for the DFB Egidius Braun Foundation for three years, invited a group of children from the KITZ Hopp Children's Cancer Centre in Heidelberg to the PreZero Arena. The children were able to watch the Werkself win 4-2 at the TSG Hoffenheim stadium and enjoy the ensuing celebrations of qualifications for the Champions League. .
"It's always great to bring joy to children. This time there was the opportunity as the game was played close to Heidelberg," said Tah, who has supported the partnership between the DFB Foundation and the KITZ Hopp Children's Cancer Centre in Heidelberg since 2019 as part of the 'Children's dreams' campaign. "We will definitely do the whole thing again in the future."
The crowning moment of an impressive season was absent in the end. The Bayer Giants Leverkusen, recently hit hard by numerous injuries, lost out in the promotion race for the basketball Bundesliga on Tuesday night. In game three of the semi-finals they suffered a 74 to 62 defeat against Tigers Tübingen at the Ostermann Arena. As the previous two away games in Baden-Württemberg were lost the third defeat in the best-of-five format now ensures the Giants remain in second division of the basketball Bundesliga.
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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