
Bayer 04 will have to manage without Kerem Demirbay for another two games in the Europa League. The midfielder was shown a red card in the closing stages of the 4-0 home win against Real Betis early in November. UEFA confirmed the three-match ban on Tuesday evening. Demirbay will only be available to the Werkself for the second leg of the Round of 16 tie in March 2022 .
The 28-year-old will miss the last match in Group G against Ferencváros (9 December) as well as the Round of 16 first leg in the middle of March of next year. Bayer 04 are certain of finishing top of the group that means Demirbay and Co. will proceed straight to the last 16.
Sporting managing director Rudi Völler is in favour of using former players in support of VAR match officials. "I'm now of the opinion that a former player could possibly be helpful with his experiences in many situations," said the 61-year-old to Sport Bild. Völler played over 650 games at club level that included winning the champions league in 1993 with Olympique Marseille. The former world class striker won the World Cup with Germany in 1990 and played for the Werkself between 1994 and 1996.
The mood of Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli could hardly be better at the moment: The Bayer 04 youngsters have been in the starting line-up in the past five games – and played a considerable part in securing four wins and a draw. Adli won three points for the Werkself with his first Bundesliga goal in the 1-0 win against VfL Bochum. His teammate followed suit last weekend with his first goal in Germany's top-flight in a 3-1 victory at RB Leipzig.
Following the win against RB, the U21 international players Frimpong (Netherlands) and Adli (France) together watched Frimpong's celebration in the game in Leipzig – and they had a lot to laugh at. Click HERE for the video.
It was one of the crucial moments in the home game against Bochum: the sliding tackle from Jonathan Tah on Takuma Asano. The Bochum player was about to shoot from the penalty spot but our key defender arrived at the last minute to put in a sliding tackle to maintain the 1-0 lead. A really important and impressive move that deservedly won the award for Save of the Month for November powered by iLOQ. Congratulations, Jona! HERE is a video of the clearance made by our number 4.

1 December 1979 is firmly fixed in the Bayer 04 history books as an historic event happened on that Saturday afternoon at the Park Stadium in Gelsenkirchen: The Werkself were the visitors at the then seven-time German champions FC Schalke 04. Matchday 15 in the first Bundesliga season in the club's history finally brought the first away win in the top-flight away to the Royal Blues.
Peter Szech scored both goals in the 2-0 victory and he was the matchwinner for the team coached by Wilibert Kremer. That victory was exactly 42 years ago and since then there have been 235 other Bundesliga wins for the Black and Reds on the road to date. Here's to many more!
As a comparison: In the current season, the Werkself already had 04 wins from 13 games away from home and are still unbeaten away from the BayArena. Bayer 04 are currently top of the away form table with 15 points.

The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...

After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
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Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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Bayer 04 is redesigning the public catering at the BayArena and Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion for the start of the 2026/27 season. Together with new catering partner Aramark, processes will be developed and the service at the stadium will be improved in a targeted way.
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