
The current infection rate, which acts as a guideline and basis for official approval for matches to be played with crowds, has risen continuously in Leverkusen and surrounding districts since the start of October. At the moment the city of Leverkusen is classified as a risk area as the number of new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past seven days – known as the seven-day rate – has exceeded 50.
“It’s very difficult for us to have to manage without the support of our fans in the forthcoming crucial games. However, we want to and must play our part as an organisation and take responsibility as every other individual should do. We hope the trend not just in Leverkusen falls again as soon as possible,” said Fernando Carro, chairman of the board at Bayer 04.
Forthcoming Werkself fixtures:
FSV Mainz 05 v Bayer 04 (17 October, 15.30 CEST)
Bayer 04 v OGC Nice (22 October, 18.55 CEST)
Bayer 04 v FC Augsburg (26 October, 20.30 CET)
Slavia Prague v Bayer 04 (29 October, 21.00 CET)
SC Freiburg v Bayer 04 (1 November, 15.30 CET)
Hapoel Beer Sheva v Bayer 04 (5 November, 18.55 CET)
Bayer 04 v Borussia Mönchengladbach (8 November, 18.00 CET)


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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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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