
"They are the poster boys of the Bundesliga: Players who make the difference for their teams," was the slogan in the Sky broadcast 'Stars of the Bundesliga'. And the new episode is all about Lucas Alario. With eight Bundesliga goals in the current season, ten assists and a total of 28 shots on goal, the Werkself striker is at the top of the rankings. Reason enough to take a closer look at the Argentinian and his route to the Bundesliga. In addition to teammate Wendell and sporting director Simon Rolfes, several other contemporaries of our number 13 get the chance to speak. The 30-minute episode will be broadcast on Sky Sport Bundesliga 1 on Thursday at 23.00 CET and will be available online afterwards.
Benjamin 'Benny' Henrichs will not be on the pitch on Saturday 30 January (kick-off: 18.30 CET) in the top match between RB Leipzig and Bayer 04. Persistent knee problems have sidelined the former Leverkusen defender. The 23-year old is currently on loan at RB Leipzig from Ligue 1 club AS Monaco. On Saturday, he will be available for interview by the broadcaster Sky. During the broadcast, Henrichs will not only talk about his time in the Principality and in Saxony but also look back at his past in Black and Red. He wore the Bayer 04 shirt for 14 years.
Benny is not the only one to enjoy great appreciation from Julian Nagelsmann as Peter Bosz is also highly rated by the RB Leipzig coach. At the pre-match press conference ahead of the clash on Saturday night, the 33-year-old was really enthusiastic: "I consider Peter Bosz to be one of the most accomplished coaches that we have, not only in the Bundesliga but also in Europe." He believes the Dutchman lets all his teams play "great and successful football." Nagelsmann added: "My former players have continued to improve under him." Last season, Nagelsmann coached Patrik Schick at RB Leipzig and he worked at Hoffenheim for considerably longer with Kerem Demirbay (2016-19) and Nadiem Amiri (2016-19 including youth teams). Talking about our number 11 at the press conference, Nagelsmann said: "If I had a kickabout on the recreation ground with Amiri then I would know exactly what he wants to do."
Organised football was already being played in the 19th century – there were rules, clubs, associations, regional champions and even international fixtures. But there was a need for a central organisation. So, exactly 121 years ago, on 28 January 1900, the German Football Association (DFB) was founded in Leipzig. Six club representative were brought together six months before to organise a foundation meeting for a 'General German Football Association'. 36 people representing 86 clubs responded to the invitation to "all football clubs of the Empire and from Germany – Austria" and made their way to the "First General Football Meeting". The DFB was founded by a vote of 64 for and 22 against and since then has been in charge of regulating matches in Germany.

In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...

After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
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Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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