
With Rudi on One: The live report from SAT 1 of the opening Bundesliga match, with Rudi Völler acting as a pundit, achieved top spot in TV viewing figures on Friday. More than 10 million viewers watched the game between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Munich (1-6). That is a market share of 32.7% amongst 14- to 49-year-olds:
The long-standing Leverkusen sporting director and managing director Rudi Völler was first in action pitchside as a pundit and finally the 62-year-old analysed the opening victory for FC Bayern on the talk show ran Late Night. Völler handed over the baton as sporting managing director of the Werkself to Simon Rolfes this summer and since then the 1990 World Cup winner has been a member of the Bayer 04 shareholders committee.




Hard work indeed: The Bayer 04 Women’s squad today started a five-day training camp ahead of the 22/23 season. The team under the new Women's head coach Robert de Pauw made the short journey to the renowned Sportzentrum Kaiserau by coach.
In ideal conditions and hot temperatures, Anna Klink & Co. will have training sessions each day and a friendly against de Pauw’s former club FC Twente Enschede at the end of the training camp on Friday 12 August.
Meanwhile, the Bayer 04 players Lisanne Gräwe and Clara Fröhlich are away with the Germany U20 team. The two Leverkusen players start the World Cup in Costa Rica on Wednesday 10 August. In the first match, Germany in Group B play Colombia (19.0 CEST). That is followed on Saturday 13 August by the game against New Zealand (19.00 CEST). The final group match is next Wednesday, 17 August (01.00 CEST) when Mexico are the opposition.
An historic date: Exactly 30 years ago today, Heike Henkel won an Olympic gold in the high jump in Barcelona. At the end of that year she was also Germany's sports personality of the year and named the world athlete of the year. TSV Bayer 04 talked to Heiko about the medal and her career. HERE is the interview (in German).
Several former and current Bayer 04 players celebrate their birthdays today. Two women players are included. Amira Arfaoui, at Leverkusen since last year, is now 23 years old. The youngest celebrating their birthday is Sofi Zdebel. The U19 international is 18 today. Finally of adult age.
The former Werkself keeper Uwe Greiner is 63 today. The Stuttgart-born player made 74 appearances for the Black and Reds over two years. Another former Leverkusen player celebrating their birthday today is Josip Drmic. He is 30 today. The Swiss forward joined the Werkself in 2014/2015 but left the Black and Reds a year later to join Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Bayer 04 today also remember Peter Röger, who would have been 100 years old today (Monday). Bayer 04 last week dedicated an article to Leverkusen legend in the series 'Rudi recounts'. Click HERE for the article.

Bayer 04 will be preparing young talents for a potential sporting career in an even more systematic way in future. The club is breaking new ground to help develop their academic, social and personal skills as well. With the ‘Haus der Talente' or 'Talent House’, Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH is creating a new centre for the development of young athletes in a central location in Leverkusen. Once completed – expected to be in the summer of 2027 – the project will be run in partnership with TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen e.V.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-3 loss against Werder Bremen on the 26th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Bayer 04 Women have finished in fifth place after the best Bundesliga season in the club's history in terms of points. Roberto Pätzold's side went down 3-1 at home to SV Werder Bremen on the final matchday. With 46 points and 15 wins, they've bettered the previous record campaign of 2024/25. Despite periods of pressure, Cornelia Kramer's 73rd-minute strike was not enough at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, and the Werkself miss out on European qualification despite a strong end to the season.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed a conract extension with home-grown talent Sofie Zdebel by a further year ahead of schedule. The 21-year-old Germany U23 international will stay at the club until 30 June 2028.
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