The final days in the current season under the Bayer Cross are not just about the race for Europe. The impending retirement of Lars and Sven Bender has assumed great importance for management. staff and, above all, the fans of the Werkself. As part of the Wir sagen Danke! campaign, the club are working with Bayer 04 fans in organising numerous events and projects.
This includes redesigning the Mixed Zone, an area usually reserved for partner presentations. A banner with snapshots from the twelve years Lars Bender has spent at Bayer 04 now line the corridor to the home dressing room. It was designed and produces in co-operation with members of the fan umbrella organisation ‘Nordkurve12’. The message says it all: “Battle, ambition, passion – Thank you Lars.” Definitely additional motivation for all Werkself players for the forthcoming and last home game against FC Union Berlin (Saturday, 15 May, 15.30 CEST) with Lars Bender unfortunately unavailable due to injury.
The Bayer 04 shop in Bergisch Gladbach, currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, will not reopen. The club has decided to give up the shop on the high street. The Bayer 04 shops in Wiesdorf and at the BayArena will remain open.
Bayer 04 are supporting the cancer awareness campaign #touch organised by the BERGISCHE health insurance company. The Sponsors Club partner of the Werkself is focussing on breast cancer prevention. Nina Brüggemann, Juliane Wirtz, Kristin Kögel and Anna Wellmann are four players from the Leverkusen Bundesliga team involved as the face of the campaign for the BERGISCHE.
Germany are in the European Championships in the summer. Head coach Joachim Löw recently announced he would do without a Euros casting session at the training camp in Seefeld/Tyrol and select the 26 players permitted for the Euro finals. The 61-year-old will announce his squad next Wednesday, 19 May, at 12.30 CEST and the training camp in Austria will begin on 28 May. The DFB will have to name the final squad on 1 June.
The opening match in the European Championships is on 11 June. Germany play World Cup winners France four days later. The other group opponents are Portugal (19 June) and Hungary (23 June).
The Bundesliga is drawing to a close and the European Championships are around the corner – amateur matches have not been played for over six months due to the coronavirus pandemic. The German Football Association (DFB) and the German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB) have organised a campaign and petition for the resumption of amateur sport.
Under the heading, ‘Draußen muss drin sein’ (Outside has to be in), the sports associations are advocating the fastest possible approval of organised training and practice sessions – leading to the resumption of fixtures. Everybody can give their backing to amateur sport.
Michael Rensing celebrates his 37th birthday this weekend. Born in Emsland, he signed for Bayern Munich at the age of 16 and he stayed at the club for ten years. The keeper then moved on to FC Köln and in 2012/13 to Bayer 04. Rensing was the back-up to Bernd Leno and he made four appearances – the Werkself won three of those matches. That was followed by seven years at Fortuna Düsseldorf and he retired from the game in 2020. Happy birthday, Michael Rensing.
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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