Andrey Lunev finally made his debut for Bayer 04 in Budapest on 9 December. The Russia goalkeeper played the full 90 minutes in the final group match in the Europa League away to Hungarian champions Ferencváros. Bayer 04 TV accompanied the Werkself number 40 on the trip and met up with him for an interview. Here is the film on YouTube.
It should have been a positive end to the year: The Bayer 04 eSports players were due to face FC Köln on Tuesday night, 21 December, for a derby in the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL). However, the players from Cologne have had to cancel the match set to be played from 18.00 CET due to illness.
After ten games in the VBL Club Championship, the #B04eSports players have 41 points and are currently sixth out of 13 teams in the division. Xbox player Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ de Cae and Co. are back in the VBL CC on Tuesday 11 January. They first face Borussia Mönchengladbach from 18.00 CET and two hours later they start the second half of the season against Holstein Kiel.
Fast counter-attacks and penetrating runs are part of the playing philosophy at the Werkself. There are several lightning quick players in the squad. Three of them belong to the total of 19 Bundesliga players who broke the 35 kmph mark in the first half of the season.
Seventh place in these sprinter rankings is taken by Jeremie Frimpong with the right-back chalking up a speed of 35.61 kmph. New signing Mitchel Bakker is in eighth spot with a speed of 35.58 kmph and Moussa Diaby is nineteenth. The Frenchman clocked up 35.14 kmph. Incredibly: The fastest Bundesliga player in the first half of the season is Jeremiah St. Juste (36.63 kmph) – a central defender at Mainz.
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Markus Elmer played for Bayer 04 for three years. Signed from VfB Stuttgart in 1980, the sweeper from Oberkochen in Baden-Württemberg made 42 Bundesliga appearances for the Black and Reds (two goals). However, Elmer had problems with an Achilles tendon after many years of professional football and he made his last appearance on 25 September 1982 – in a 3-0 defeat against his former club Stuttgart. After his playing career ended, Elmer became a coach in amateur football. Today he celebrates his 69th birthday. Many happy returns.
There will plenty of action at the BayArena when Bayer 04 and SC Freiburg, the two most competitive teams in the current Bundesliga campaign, meet this Sunday, 26 October (kick-off: 15:30 CET). The A59 autobahn will be closed to traffic. Thirteen fan clubs will be honoured for their long-standing commitment during the half-time break. Matchday news brings you the latest information on today’s home game.
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With twelve points from the six matches in the online preliminary round of showdown one, the Leverkusen eSports players have made a successful start to the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship campaign. They finished eleventh in the table and made it through to the offline knockout round of the first showdown, where they will first face FC Schalke 04 in the Round of 16 on Sunday, 26 October (from 15:15 CET/live on the VBL Twitch channel). The latest information on their opponents and possible further adversaries.
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After a poor start to their Bundesliga campaign, SC Freiburg have long since bounced back. Coach Julian Schuster's team are unbeaten since the end of August and got a confidence boost on Thursday in the UEFA Europa League for their next challenge at the BayArena this Sunday, 26 October (kick-off: 15.30 CET).
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The Bayer 04 Women have made good use of the international break. In stormy weather, the Werkself beat top-flight Dutch team NAC Breda 8-1 in a friendly on Thursday afternoon. Caroline Kehrer (5’/18’), Paulina Bartz (15’), Valentina Mädl (38’/69’/79’) and Vanessa Fudalla (53’) scored for the Leverkusen side.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without captain Friederike Repohl for the next few weeks. The 31-year-old keeper, who has played in six matches this season, suffered a muscle injury to her left thigh in training.
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