The pilots are planned for this season’s games in the Champions League, Europa League and the Conference League in Germany, England and France. Spanish and Italian clubs could have taken part in the test phase but the qualified teams do not have grounds with the appropriate areas. The finals are not included in this pilot scheme.
That means Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be able to plan on having full terraces in this season’s Champions League campaign. “We will immediately start all the required approval steps so we can receive final approval,” explained Fernando Carro as chairman of the board. “This decision by UEFA is a landmark for European football,” added Carro. “We will do everything we can at Leverkusen to make the pilot project a success so that the culture of standing can return to all the stadiums in Europe.”
In the 1990s, UEFA introduced the ban on standing for all games under the aegis of the association including in reaction to the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 where 97 fans lost their lives.
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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