
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 Leverkusen have secured a new premium partner in the form of DRIVIO. DRIVIO, already part of the club’s partner portfolio as a reliable car subscription partner for Bayer 04, will continue to support the club in this capacity and, with immediate effect, also join the premium group of companies that cooperate closely with the Werkself. The premium and car subscription partnership between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and DRIVIO will initially run until 30 June 2027.
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Following last weekend’s big game against Wolfsburg, Bayer 04 Women face another exciting challenge as they visit Hoffenheim to kick off Matchday 3 in the Google Pixel Bundesliga on Friday (kick-off: 18:30 CEST).
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Under the slogan ‘Holidays without War’, 60 children from war-torn Ukraine took part in the summer camp organised by the German-Ukrainian association Blau-Gelbes Kreuz in Leverkusen and the surrounding area in August. The children aged between 10 and 14 – many of whom have lost their parents in the war – come from the Ukrainian twin towns of Leverkusen, Cologne and Monheim am Rhein: Nikopol, Dnipro and Volodymyr. Bayer 04, Bayer AG and TSV Bayer 04 supported the camp to mark its 10th anniversary, enabling even more children and young people than in previous years to spend a few carefree days’ holiday away from the war in the Rhineland.
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Midfielder Ruby Grant is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen and joining Portuguese runners-up Sporting CP a year before her contract expires. The 24-year-old has been at the Werkself since January 2025.
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New to Leverkusen and straight up onto the roof at the BayArena: Guéla Doué has arrived. In an interview with Werkself TV, the new right-back talks about his previous links with Bayer 04 and how much he’s looking forward to his first home match. Have a look!
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