Birthday greetings, three times! Before the training session on Tuesday morning, there was a serenade for three birthday boys at the Werkself: Goalkeeper Niklas Lomb is 27, goalkeeping coach David Thiel is now 36 and assistant coach Xaver Zembrod celebrates his 54th birthday. Fernando Carro, chairman of the board at Bayer 04, was a year older on Monday. Bayer 04 wishes many happy returns to one and all on their birthdays.
While his teammates have been sharing access to their holidays over the past couple of weeks, there was less on social networks about Kevin Volland. The 27-year-old made his return at the weekend with good news: With a baby in his arms and the words "Proud dad of two", he revealed a happy secret kept away from the public up till now. His second child was born on 22 July. Congratulations to the Volland family.
The German Football League (DFL) has called another emergency general meeting next week for the 36 clubs in the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2. In the virtual general meeting on Tuesday, 4 August, the main item on the agenda is the possible return of spectators to stadiums in the 2020/21 season. The background to this meeting is the need to make a decision on what policies the clubs should follow, e.g. regarding away fans, standing and the sale of alcohol plus track and tracing in the event of a coronavirus outbreak.
Last Sunday revealed the champions of the Italian top-flight Serie A: With two games to play, Juventus can no longer be caught by a possible Europa League quarter-final opponent for the Werkself. The last two matches of the league campaign see Inter Milan trying to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League. The second possible opponent in the quarter-finals, Getafe, ended their season in eighth place on 19 July, which is outside a European qualification position but they do have more time to to recover before the Europa League restarts.
Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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The next footballing highlight is just around the corner: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the tournament, will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and feature 48 teams for the first time. Bayer04.de has all the latest on the Werkself players called up to represent their countries.
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While the majority of the Bayer 04 Women are enjoying their summer break, nine Werkself players will be on duty for their national teams in the coming days. Three of them are competing for a place at the World Cup, while six are involved in two friendlies with the Germany U23 team.
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