Football is more than just a game. Bayer 04 will show that in the coming weeks as part of the #Morethanfootball Action Weeks campaign. At the start of the campaign, players and fans plus management and staff at over 100 participating clubs from across Europe are taking part in a virtual human chain – a large number of Black and Reds have already shown how it’s done.
How the new Werkself head coach Hannes Wolf, who was presented on Tuesday (HERE is the press release), shares a past with Leon Bailey at KRC Genk. The Jamaican played for the top-flight Belgian club for a year and a half from the 2015/16 season before signing for Bayer 04.
Bailey has played for the Werkself since January 2017. The 3-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin on the last matchday was the 150th appearance for the winger in a Bayer 04 shirt. He has scored 36 goals and provided 24 assist so far. Here’s to many more, Leon.
Among the best in the world: Werkself youngster Florian Wirtz has been voted into sixth place of the top talents, born before 1 January 2002, in the NGXN Awards from GOAL, the biggest publisher of digital football content worldwide. The 17-year-old Wirtz is not only a regular starter in the Bayer 04 midfield but he was also recently called up by Germany coach Joachim Löw to the Germany senior squad for the first time.
The NXGN is carried out annually and it highlights the best young talents in women’s and men’s football. The ranking is produced by over 100 pundits from 44 countries from GOAL’s global network. With the women, Hanna Bennison of FC Rosengard came out on top and Ansu Fati (FC Barcelona) won in the men’s section.
The coronavirus pandemic has had far-reaching effects on the current international break. The Bayer 04 internationals will not play in games being staged in the so-called ‘virus variant areas’. Patrik Schick was only due to play in the World Cup qualifier against Estonia on Wednesday 24 March (kick-off: 20.45 CET), which has been moved to Lublin in Poland.
As Cardiff is no longer in a virus variant area, the centre-forward will also be able to play against Wales. The match on Tuesday 30 Match kicks off at 20.45 CEST.
A special service for visually-impaired fans of the Bayer 04 Women’s team: The next home game in the FLYERLARM Women’s Bundesliga against Eintracht Frankfurt will be broadcast free of charge as an audio live commentary. The game received 80 per cent of all votes in the weekly vote for the ‘BENA-on-Air’. The home game against Frankfurt is on Friday 26 March with the kick-off at 19.15 CET. The broadcast starts ten minutes before kick-off. Click HERE for the broadcast.
A tip for watching the top game in the FFBL between the teams lying fifth and seventh in the table with the family: Switch on ‘BENA-on-Air’ and also follow the action on Eurosport.
The Leverkusen U19s were able to beat Rot-Weiß Oberhausen in a friendly at the weekend. The team under head coach Sven Hübscher beat their league rivals 6-1 at Kurtekotten. Samed Onur, who regularly trains with the first team, netted a hat-trick.
Standing on the pitch where the Werkself players perform - for many Bayer 04 club members, this wish became reality at this year's Members' kickabout. Around 400 active participants of all ages took the opportunity to experience the BayArena from a new and special perspective. And there was also plenty going on in the stands: The event attracted more than 1,000 visitors in total and provided an atmospheric end to the season.
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Lying third in the Bundesliga, the Werkself made a faltering start in 2026 after the winter break, but gradually rediscovered winning ways and, as in the previous campaign, were among the top 16 in Europe and the top four in the DFB Pokal. In the Bundesliga, the Werkself also remained in the race for Champions League qualification right to the end. However, because setbacks repeatedly crept into the Werkself's performances between good displays and crucial games, it was not quite enough to secure a UCL spot in the end. A season with many ups and downs brought sixth place and qualification for the UEFA Europa League. Part II of the review of the 2025/26 season.
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Rogier Meijer is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen and returning to his native Netherlands: The 44-year-old will take over at Eredivisie club Sparta Rotterdam on 1 July. Meijer has been part of the Werkself coaching set-up since the start of the 2025/26 season - first as assistant coach to Erik ten Hag, then on Kasper Hjulmand's staff.
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Following the final match of the 2025/26 season, the prevailing feeling was naturally one of disappointment after missing out on qualification for the Champions League. The Werkself finished the Bundesliga in sixth place, meaning they'll start the 2026/27 campaign in the Europa League. "But to talk negatively about everything now because of that would be wrong," stressed captain Robert Andrich following the final game, knowing that the past year at Bayer 04 was marked, more than almost any other, by the start of a new era and the courage to change – and in particular, the belief in a positive direction. Everyone was aware this process would need time. The first part of the 2025/26 season review.
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