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.
The fourth showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 starts for the Leverkusen eSports team today, Thursday 22 January (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel and on the Bayer 04 app from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Reds will once again compete with six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round in Berlin on 2 February at the fourth showdown. The lowdown on our next three opponents in the online preliminary round.
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The fourth European away trip of the season in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 takes the Werkself to the Greek capital. Head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team are away to Greek double winners Olympiacos on matchday seven in the UCL league phase. The match at the Karaiskakis Stadium is on Tuesday, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET). We'll be taking you on a trip to Athens and reporting on the Werkself close-up...
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A great honour for Bayer 04 Women's German international: as part of the 2025 Sports Awards, Carlotta Wamser entered her name into the City of Leverkusen's Golden Book. On Tuesday, she looked back on a special year in a talk in the Morsbroich Castle hall of mirrors.
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It was a disappointing night in Athens: The Werkself lost 2-0 away to Olympiacos on Matchday 7 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. In a match that was intense and fiery from the outset, the high-pressing home side made the better start and took the lead through Costinha on two minutes. Although the Werkself had a number of chances to equalise, the clinical Greek side increased the lead to 2-0 shortly before half-time (45+1’). In the second half, Leverkusen once again gave their all and showed total commitment but, despite their best efforts, the Black and Reds were unable to break down the Olympiacos defence on the night.
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