News in brief: Shirts for ‘Finally Red’ featuring Rudi

Even though the BayArena only opens at 18.30 CEST, there is a good reason to get there early. From 17.00 CEST, fans can get in the mood for the match against Eintracht at the StadionEck on Bismarckstraße. And the right kit is essential. T-shirts for the #FinallyRed campaign can be bought at the fan pub from 18.00. The shirts, dedicated to Rudi Völler, cost five euros and are available in sizes XS to 4XL. So it's worth getting there early.

12,000 Euros for Leverkusen charity

Cooking for a good cause: Bayer 04 will present a cheque for €12,000 to Leverkusener Tafel e.V. during half-time. That sum comes from the sale of the club book entitled 'The BayArena cooks 2.0'. Anne Pleus and Sabrina Räbsch, the two initiators of the recipe collection by Bayer 04 players and staff plus patron and amateur cook Stefan Kießling will present the check together with Dr. Adolf Staffe, chairman of Tafel Leverkusen, and its treasurer Roman Schwenzfeier.

The original version 'The BayArena cooks' produced a donation of €15,000 to the Leverkusen Tafel charity at the end of 2020. The second edition of the cookbook is available at the price of €9.90 from the Bayer 04 shops.

Delegation at the BayArena

A group from Mexico have been guests in Leverkusen since Friday afternoon. Ahead of the forthcoming #Bayer04MexicoTour directly after the final game of the season, the Werkself invited partners to Germany for a couple of days. The guests include Arturo Sanchez (president of Consumer Health section at Bayer AG in Latin America), Mikel Arriola (president of the Mexican league MX) plus management from Deportivo Toluca and Club América.

The delegation was able to enjoy numerous insights into the world of the Werkself at the weekend. For example, on Saturday 30 April, they watched the U19 home game against SC Paderborn at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium and visited the Kurtekotten Performance Centre. They also received an exclusive tour of the BayArena and yesterday (1 May) they attended the pre-match press conference ahead of #B04SGE. The delegation will also be at today's home game against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The exchange is an important element of the partnership to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Bayer Mexico..

For friends of stATS

I don’t like Mondays – definitely does not apply to the Werkself. Bayer 04 have played five games on a Monday in the Bundesliga and have never been defeated at the start of the week (three wins, two draws). In addition, the Black and Reds have won the last six home games against Eintracht Frankfurt – with an impressive goal difference of 23 to 3. It's the longest winning run against a current Bundesliga club at home.

While the Werkself are fully concentrated on the league run-in, the focus at Frankfurt is primarily on the UEFA Europa League. Eintracht secured a 2-1 win on Thursday in the semi-final first leg at West Ham United with the return match against English club coming up in three days time. In contrast, the team under coach Oliver Glasner have gone five Bundesliga games without a win (three draws, two defeats). It's the worst run for Eintracht Frankfurt since the start of the season.

TAke the next step

Seven of the nine games on Bundesliga matchday 32 have been played with Borussia Mönchengladbach and RB Leipzig facing each other today alongside the match in Leverkusen. The Werkself are currently third in the table level on points with SC Freiburg in fourth place and one point ahead of RB Leipzig in fifth. There is a three-point lead over FC Köln in sixth place. If Bayer 04 win tonight then that would ensure participation in a European competition next season – and would represent a further important step towards qualifying for the Champions League.

Cortus is the ref

Benjamin Cortus is in charge of the match at the BayArena. The 40-year-old has officiated twelve games involving the Werkself, which have produced eight wins and two draws with 25 yellow and one red card for the Black and Reds. His assistants are Florian Heft and Marco Achmüller and Daniel Siebert is the VAR official. Have a good game.

Werkself Live for #B04SGE

Black and Red fans can find out key information on the current matchday ahead of the kick-off against the team from Frankfurt with the help of Werkself LIVE. The matchday magazine is available at the BayArena – alternatively it is available free online.

This season's revamped matchday magazine from Bayer 04 provides interesting stats and facts on the match, on the back of the print product for the game there is a poster of Sardar Azmoun. Here is the e-paper.

donate beakers rather than throw them

The BayArena switched to reusable beakers in the summer of 2019. They are made of polypropylene and can be cleaned up to 150 times. That helps protect the environment and represents an important contribution to sustainability. But that's not all – fans have two possibilities after they have finished their drink: either ask for the deposit back or donate the beaker. Just put it in one of the many beaker donation containers – and Bayer 04 will contribute the funds raised to a good cause. Support is currently going to Wildpark Reuschenberg. So: donate beakers rather than throwing them.

Da Costa signs  for Mainz 

The former Werkself player Danny da Costa is staying with Mainz 05 after his 12-month loan and he will join the club on permanent terms from Eintracht Frankfurt this summer. That was announced by the two clubs on Friday. The Neuss-born player has agreed a deal to 2025.

Da Costa was a youth player at the Werkself from 2004 and he made his first-team debut at Leverkusen on 16 December 2010 in a 1-1 draw in the Europa League against Atlético Madrid. After the full-back first spent two seasons on loan at FC Ingolstadt and was then signed by the club for another two years, the now 28-year-old returned to the Werkself in 2016. Da Costa joined Eintracht Frankfurt a year later.

happy birthday, Jule

Julian Brandt today celebrates his 26th birthday – many happy returns from Bayer 04. The Bremen-born player joined Leverkusen from the VfL Wolfsburg U19 team in January 2014. He stayed for five and a half years and developed from a youth player to an established Bundesliga player and international. The versatile forward made 165 appearances for the Black and Reds scoring 34 goals and providing 40 assists. Brandt has played for Borussia Dortmund since the summer of 2019.