"In your five years in post, you have provided outstanding leadership to the club and achieved great success," said Wenning pointing out the four Champions League campaigns and the updated infrastructure at the BayArena completed under the guidance of Michael Schade, who will continue to have an input in the future with his role on shareholders' committee of Bayer 04 Fußball GmbH.
Over 100 long-term associates of the 65-year-old from the club, Bundesliga, business, culture and politics came together for the farewell event at the Premium Lounge. The guest list included Dr. Reinhard Rauball (president of the German Football League [DFL}), Werner Spinner (president of FC Köln), Peter Peters (director of Schalke 04), Wolfgang Bosbach (former CDU member of the Bundestag), Leverkusen's Mayor Uwe Richrath and Werner Baumann (chairman of the board at Bayer AG).
Fernando Carro, the new chairman of the board, Rudi Völler (managing director sport) and Jonas Boldt (sporting director) were accompanied by the Bayer 04 head coach Heiko Herrlich, captain Lars Bender, striker Kevin Volland plus club legends Ulf Kirsten, Simon Rolfes and Stefan Kießling. Also present: actor Jan-Gregor Kremp, musician Arthur Horvath, cabaret artist Wilfried Schmickler, who gave a witty and, as usual, pithy farewell speech in praise of Michael Schade, plus a host of sponsors, partners and journalists.
Following the international break, the Bayer 04 women’s team face their next head-to-head clash in the race for a top spot in the Bundesliga. In Saturday’s home match (14:00 CEST), the fourth-placed side host third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Head coach Roberto Pätzold is well aware of the great opportunity this presents for his team.
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Bayer 04 make their first trip to Poland for over 30 years as they face Lech Poznan on Matchday 2 of the league phase in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off at 18:45 CEST on Thursday, but the team will be preparing for the action on Wednesday with training, travel and pre-match press conferences. We’ll bring you all the latest news here…
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Bayer 04 remain unbeaten in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. After winning the opener against NK Celje, the Werkself followed that up on Thursday night with a 4–0 win away at the Polish champions Lech Poznan. Patrik Schick, who came on as a substitute early in the game, scored twice from the penalty spot, and Malik Tillman also found the back of the net before half-time. The second half was a more subdued affair, with Ibrahim Maza scoring late on to seal the final 4-0 scoreline.
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Since 2023, Bayer 04 has been organising regular free goalkeeping coach training sessions at the BayArena. As in previous years, the event attracted enormous interest in mid-October 2026. Around 140 participants – mostly goalkeeping coaches from the region, but also team and academy coaches as well as association staff – came to the Werkself stadium to gain expert knowledge on the subject of zonal marking. Through a theoretical keynote presentation and a practical session on the pitch, the participants gained insights into goalkeeping and goalkeeper training at Bayer 04.
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