They were just one goal away from a sensational appearance in the final in the second leg away to Manchester United. The friendly will be broadcast live on bayer04.de.
There was an impressive return to the European stage for Celta after a break of ten years during which the club just avoided relegation to the third division. By the year 2000, the Galicians were established in the top third of the Primera Division and they qualified six times for the UEFA Cup between 1998 and 2007 and even made it to the Champions League in 2003/2004 where they beat AC Milan and Ajax Amsterdam in the group stage before losing out to Arsenal in the Round of 16.
The former defender Eduardo Berizzo led Celta back to European competition as coach but he resigned after losing in the semi-finals against Manchester United. He went on to join Champions League participants Sevilla. His successor is a familiar face in the Galician seaport: Juan Carlos Unzué was assistant coach to the then Vigo manager Luis Enrique in 2013/2014 and he followed him to Barcelona where he won the treble of league title, domestic cup and Champions League in his first year as assistant coach. After Enrique resigned from the Catalan club, Unzué returned to the 'Little Celts' as head coach and he will now be looking to achieve a higher finish in the Spanish top-flight than last season's thirteenth place.
The star of the team is central striker Iago Aspas, who scored 19 goals in La Liga last season to finish fourth behind world stars Messi, Suárez and Ronaldo in the top scorers list. At the age of 29, Aspas who – with the exception of a two-year break at Liverpool and Sevilla – has worn the sky blue Celta shirt since he was eight years old and he also made his debut for Spain last autumn.
German fans will know one member of the Vigo squad in Marcelo Diaz. The midfielder saved Hamburg SV from relegation from the top-flight with a last-minute goal from a free kick in the play-off against Karlsruher SC. And this summer he was in the Chile side alongside Charles Aránguiz that reached the final of the Confederations Cup, which ended in defeat against a Germany team including Bernd Leno, Benjamin Henrichs and Julian Brandt.
The whole Werkself squad, including the coaches, will be available to sign autographs after the match. The opening competitive game in the first round of the DFB Cup against Karlsruher SC follows on Friday 11 August.
In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
Show more
The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
Show more
The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...
After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
Show more
Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
Show more
