In between the Bundesliga and Europa League – on Monday evening 19 October, Simon Rolfes will be fielding questions on ’100% Bundesliga’ broadcast on RTL Nitro. From 22.15 CEST, the presenters Laura Wontorra and Thomas Wagner plus pundit Steffen Freund will be talking to Rolfes about the start of the new season and the forthcoming Europa League game against Nice to be played at the BayArena on Thursday 22 October (kick-off: 18.55 CEST).
Only having signed for Bayer 04 from Portuguese club Vitória Guimarães in the winter, Edmond Tapsoba has quickly settled in alongside Sven Bender and is now a reliable player in central defence. In the 1-0 win at Mainz, the 21-year-old Burkina Faso international frustrated a number of attacks by Mainz 05. That was recognised by the tabloid newspaper Bild as he was named in their Team of the Day. That is the first nomination by the paper for the 1.94 m tall this season.
The final squad is known, the final team photo was taken on Sunday afternoon. At the end of the week, there was a PR and partners day on the agenda for the Werkself the day after the win at Mainz. Following the regeneration session – as usual there was also training for players who did not take part in the game – Charles Aránguiz and Co. took up their positions for the team photo.
That also included Patrik Schick, who signed for Bayer 04 from AS Roma at the start of September. Santiago Arias, on loan from Atlético Madrid, missed the photo call due to his operation in Madrid. The 28-year-old suffered a broken leg and ligament damage to his ankle playing for Colombia. Tin Jedvaj missed out due to illness.
The Slovakia Football Association have parted company with national coach Pavel Hapal four weeks before the crucial European Championship play-off match against Northern Ireland. The former player, at Leverkusen from 1992 to 1995 (86 Bundesliga appearances), had been the Slovakia coach since 2018.
A trio as potential hosts: The DFB is applying with Holland and Belgium to stage the women’s 2027 World Cup. The motto for the three neighbouring states: ‘Three nations. One target.’
“We know how high the hurdles are before you can achieve approval to stage a tournament like that. Our organisational experience, the strength of our new DFB and the prospect of international cooperation makes us look optimistically to the future,” said DFB president Fritz Keller. Germany staged the Women’s World Cup for the first time in 2011. Leverkusen was a venue back then. Three group matches and the quarter-final between England and France were played at the BayArena.
High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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Sofie Zdebel is up for the Goal of the Month award for February on ARD-Sportschau. Fans have until 21 March (19:00 CET) to vote for the Germany U23 international's volley to make it 2-0 in the Bayer 04 Women's derby against FC Köln (2-1).
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen are further expanding their partner network: The feed manufacturer PerNaturam is an official sponsor of the Bayer 04 Womens team. The partnership opens up a wide range of opportunities for the company to position its brand in the Bundesliga environment.
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Do you dream of wearing the Bayer cross on your chest? To play in black and red like your role models Loreen Bender, Cornelia Kramer, Kristin Kögel and co. from the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga? Then take your chance now! Our female youth teams are once again on the lookout for new talent. That's why Bayer 04 are organising a talent day on 12 April 2026 for the first time this year with trials for female juniors.
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