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!
It took exactly 60 minutes for the Werkself to take the lead through a perfectly finished counter-attack by Patrik Schick in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off at Olympiacos. Referring to the meeting in the league phase and the initially squandered opportunities, coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: "I thought: 'Oh no, déjà-vu.'" But after the opening goal, it took just 144 seconds for the Czech to spark more wild celebrations among those in black and red in the Greek cauldron, when Schick nodded in Alejandro Grimaldo's corner. Much to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans, his teammates and his coach, who had warm words for the striker in the aftermath. The Werkself Review.
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Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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