
Friday night sees East Germany's most successful talk show celebrate a birthday – and Leverkusen sporting managing director Rudi Völler is one of the large number of special guests on ‘Riverboat’. For the 30th anniversary broadcast, the 61-year-old spoke to comedian Matze Knoop in a comprehensive interview about a wide range of subjects including his first matches as a football player in the German Democratic Republic.
Riverboat – the anniversary talk-show is broadcast tonight at 22.00 CET on MDR TV.
The Dallas Mavericks have this week honoured Dirk Nowitzki, one of the best basketball players of all time, and presented the German with a number 41 shirt. The Würzburg-born player has been at the NBA club for 21 years and that number will not be used again.




We also acknowledge Nowitzki's impressive career and think back to 2019 and his visit to the BayArena. The 2.13 metre tall giant was in Leverkusen for the charity football match 'Champions for Charity. And that was not the first time. Dirk Nowitzki was often looked after by Jens Joppich who worked for Bayer 04 as an osteopath.
The former Werkself player Heiko Scholz today celebrates his 56th birthday – Bayer 04 wish him many happy returns. He joined Bayer 04 from Dynamo Dresden in the summer of 1992 and the midfielder went on to play 76 Bundesliga matches (five goals, five assists) in Black and Red. His biggest success was winning the DFB Cup in 1993. Scholz moved on to Werder Bremen two years later.

Nach seinem Karriere-Ende 2000 wechselte der gebürtige Görlitzer auf die Trainerbank und landete über den MSV Duisburg, Viktoria Köln und andere Klubs bei Dynamo Dresden. An der Elbe ist Scholz seit Dezember 2019 als Co-Trainer – derzeit von Alexander Schmidt – tätig.

Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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