Just before their six-day #Bayer04MexicoTour on Monday 11 July, the Bayer 04 Women’s team had their Media Day. The Leverkusen Women again went through several stops this year facing a frenzy of camera flashes. Videos were filmed with a range of content for the club social media channels and, of course, loads of photos were taken with everybody involved clearly enjoying it.
An annual highlight: the GIF stop. The team from Leverkusen filmed different creative mini-clips with confetti, popcorn and party horns. Black and Red fans can look forward to the results of their work.
The Werkself players again worked hard at the BayArena. Head coach Gerardo Seoane held a final session of the week on training pitch one. The training group split up after a joint warm-up routine: While the international players who returned yesterday worked at the far end of the ground, Robert Andrich, Karim Bellarabi & Co. practised passing. The session ended for everybody with a passing drill in a game with small goals.
The Seoane team have the first friendly of the new season on Saturday 9 July. The game in Velbert kicks off at 15.30 CEST with third division MSV Duisburg providing the opposition. Anybody wanting to be at the match can buy tickets on the day at the IMS Arena from two hours before kick-off (13.30 CEST). The match will also be broadcast live on the Bayer 04 official YouTube channel.
The Switzerland Women's team play their first match in the European Championships in England on Saturday 9 July. Bayer 04 player Lara Marti is in the squad. The defender and her teammates face Portugal in the first match of the tournament. The kick-off is at 18.00 CEST in the north English town of Leigh.
Marti & Co. face a tough challenge in Group C with Sweden (Olympic runners-up in 2021) and the reigning European champions the Netherlands being the other opponents. All of the Euros matches are being broadcast on ARD and ZDF as well as the streaming provider DAZN.
Congratulations from Bayer 04 today go to Heung-Min Son on his 30th birthday. The South Korea international joined Leverkusen from Hamburg SV in 2013/14 and he went on to score 29 goals for the Werkself in two years. The forward moved on to the Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in 2015 where he is still playing today.
Last season, Son was the first Asian player to be top scorer in England's top flight with 23 goals (as did Mohamed Salah of Liverpool). The international received the highest award in South Korea for sporting performances, the Cheongnyong medal. Many happy returns.
HERE again are the best goals and assists from Son to watch and enjoy.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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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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