Following Tuesday night’s 2-1 win, the team under head coach Peter Bosz temporarily moved up to second in the table behind Bayern Munich – but RB Leipzig regained second spot on Wednesday with a 1-0 win against Union Berlin. That means the Werkself finish the first half of the season on 32 points (Leipzig: 35; Bayern: 39) in third place in a Champions League position.
Due to the crowded fixture list, the first half of the season finishes in the middle of a run of games – there is no sense of half-time as the second half of the season starts on Saturday with a game at home to VfL Wolfsburg (Saturday 23 January, 15.30 CET).
The final day in self-isolation after arriving in Germany on Sunday, the first Werkself training session on Monday, the first time in the squad on Tuesday against BVB – new signing Timothy Fosu-Mensah has jumped straight in at the deep end with the Werkself. Thursday brought the obligatory first media session. At the photo shoot, profile and autograph card photos were taken and that was followed by video production and the first interview was completed. That will be available here soon on Bayer 04 TV.
Our sporting director has a reason to celebrate: Simon Rolfes’ birthday is today. The Bayer 04 honorary captain was born in Ibbenbüren in the Westphalian region of Tecklenburger Land 39 years ago. The Bayer 04 family wish Simon many happy returns. On his birthday, we have dug out the Bayer 04 YouTube channel episode of ‘Den kenn‘ ich!’ (I know him) with Rolfes and Stefan Kießling. The duo played together for almost ten years but how well do they know each other? Here is the video.
The wait for the next episode of our Werks11 podcast is nearly over. Next Tuesday is the day. The new edition was recorded on Thursday. And we can reveal this much: It’s another current Werkself player who will talk about football and also divulge details on his private life. He is tall, blond, often wears gloves and he knows cold temperatures from his home country…
The Bayer 04 Women have been the surprise package in the league this season are in the top half of the table in fifth with 20 points. One of the reasons is the big squad as head coach Achim Feifel explains in an interview in the women's football magazine 'ELFEN: "It was important to us to have two players in each position. That leads to more depth, greater competition and increased intensity in training." The full article on the Werkself Women and their new role is in the current 'ELFEN' edition #4. The magazine is available from the usual outlets now.
Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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