"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.
Bayer 04 have the chance to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League for the third time ever and the first in 14 years at Arsenal on Tuesday night (kick-off 21:00 CEST/20:00 local time). To do that, the Werkself not only require a strong performance like in the first leg, but also full concentration until the very last minute, as the Premier League leaders like to score late - as they did at the BayArena last week. Here's the Matchday News.
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A special award for special social commitment. At this year's ceremony for the Sepp Herberger Awards in Wolfsburg on Monday night, the DFB Sepp Herberger Foundation recognised Bayer 04 in the social rehabilitation category. The Bundesliga club received the prize, together with €12,000, for its great service to inmates, particularly in the Wuppertal-Ronsdorf prison.
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Can Bayer 04 pull off a coup in London? Just over a week after the 1-1 draw in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie, the Werkself are now looking to put in a convincing performance away at Arsenal – and get a result to secure a place in the quarter-finals. Ahead of the match on Tuesday, (kick-off: 21:00 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand shared his thoughts on the team’s hunger for success. Exequiel Palacios, meanwhile, spoke about the importance of the fixture and the team’s development over the past few months.
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In their last two matches, they’ve done exactly what 'Laterkusen' did in the 2023/24 double-winning season: late on, but not too late, the Gunners scored crucial goals – first in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 at Bayer 04, then last weekend in the Premier League against Everton. This Tuesday, 17 March (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Arsenal host the Werkself in London. The latest on our opponents.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss at VfL Wolfsburg on the 20th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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