The third Europa League group match takes the Werkself to Israel this week. In Petach Tikva – a suburb of Tel Aviv some 3,000 kilometres away from the BayArena as the crow flies – the team led by Peter Bosz play Hapoel Be’er Sheva on Thursday night, 5 November (kick-off: 18.55 CET). Bayer 04 return to Israeli soil for the first time in over 28 years – and for the first time in an official competitive match. But there are memories of Israel at Leverkusen.
In the summer of 1992, the Werkself held their training camp in Caesarea – between Tel Aviv and Haifa on the Israeli Mediterranean coast. As part of the Intertoto Cup, an unofficial international club competition, the Black and Reds first played Maccabi Netanya (1-0) and then Hapoel Petah Tikva three days later with that game ending in a surprise 3-2 defeat.
“In front of 1,000 enthusiastic spectators, several Leverkusen players made sure they did not suffer any unnecessary injuries against the highly motivated Israelis,” was in a newspaper report, dated 13 July 1992, which Rudi Vollborn brought out of the club archives this week. The Werkself player with the record number of appearances and Bayer 04 club archivist did travel to Israel but was unable to play due to an ankle injury.
The last fixture against an Israeli club was in October 2002 in the Champions League. The 2-0 away win against Maccabi Haifa, with Marko Babic netting both goals, was played on Cyprus due to the tense political situation in Israel at the time.
Gerd Müller played a crucial role for FC Bayern just as much as he did with Germany and, 38 years after the end of his playing career, he is still known and revered as the ‘Bomber of the nation’ all over the country. The central striker scored an impressive 68 goals in 62 internationals. On top of that, between 1964 and 1979 he clocked up an outstanding 365 goals in 427 Bundesliga matches including 40 in the 1971/72 season – still the record in the league as is his seven trophies for being Bundesliga top goalscorer.
Rudi Völler, sporting managing director at Bayer 04, still raves about the Bundesliga record goalscorer to this day: “I admired Gerd Müller in the 1970s. His goals helped win the World Cup for Germany when I was 14. He was an idol for me particularly as a striker. And although it’s difficult to compare players from different generations because all of them have their own particular time: For me, Gerd Müller is one of a kind and will also remain so.” The ‘Bomber of the nation’ is 75 years old today. Many happy returns from Bayer 04!
The latest edition of the Werks11 magazine – number 28 – has been posted out to Bayer 04 Club members. There is an in-depth interview with key defender Edmond Tapsoba covering his first months at Leverkusen plus his home country of Burkina Faso. In addition, summer signing Patrik Schick takes a closer look at his new home from an aerial perspective. The editors joined him at the Leverkusen Water Tower. Enjoy reading about the Black and Reds!
At bayer04.de, can also look back at all the previous Werks11 magazines from the first edition in 2015/16.
Dante led out Nice as captain at the BayArena two weeks ago in the 6-2 defeat against the Werkself. He suffered a blow last weekend: In the league game at SCO Angers (3-0), the Brazilian picked up a serious injury and had to be carried off. The bitter diagnosis: Torn cruciate and several months on the sidelines. The experienced player, playing on the Côte d’Azur since 2016 following on from time with Borussia Mönchengladbach, Bayern Munich and VfL Wolfsburg, will miss the return game against the Werkself on 3 December. Bayer 04 wish him a speedy recovery!
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Bayer 04 host top French club Marseille at the BayArena on matchday four in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League group stage. The match kicks off on Thursday 5 November at 21:00 CET. The latest information on ticket sales.
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The BAYER 04 HILFT Day is celebrating an anniversary: for the tenth year running, a large number of employees of the Bundesliga club have been getting involved in a community project in Leverkusen and the surrounding area. Following the refurbishment of the city library last year, this time around some 70 staff members rolled up their sleeves to help out at the Bunker Youth Centre in Leverkusen-Wiesdorf. With the support of the Lebenshilfe workshops in Leverkusen and partner Coca-Cola, a rubber football pitch was laid, a Bayer 04-style lounge was created and other projects were carried out. Werkself players and coaching staff also gave their all.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen and sponsors club partner NRG24 are continuing their partnership, which has been in place since the summer of 2023. The Bundesliga football club and the energy consultancy firm have extended their successful partnership until 30 June 2027.
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