
There is something special in store for the most loyal of loyal Werkself fans at Saturday’s season launch at the BayArena: The 2,500 season card holders, who watched all the competitive games at the BayArena last term, in a for a special surprise. As a thank you, Bayer 04 are giving those fans a personalised ‘loyalty scarf’ available at a stall on the piazza by the West Stand (next to the police station). CEO Michael Schade, right back Danny da Costa and fan liaison officer Rüdiger Vollborn will call in there at 13.45 CET on Saturday afternoon to join Bayer 04 staff in handing out scarves to the most loyal fans.
“We have identified the 2,500 or so fans who we want to give this gift to reward their loyalty,” explained Meinolf Sprink, fan and community director at Bayer 04. Those Werkself season ticket holders, who were at all of the home games at the BayArena last term but are unable to be at the stadium on Saturday due to holidays or other reasons, will be able to collect their loyalty scarf at the first Bundesliga home game against Hamburg SV on 10 September.
Lots of highlights and attractions
In addition to the sporting highlight of the friendly against Real Sociedad (14.30 CET), the mega autograph session (17.00 CET) or interviews with Michael Schade and Rudi Völler (at half-time in the Sociedad game) or Roger Schmidt (16.20 CET) plus the numerous fun activities on the concourse, there is another good reason to get to the BayArena on Saturday from 12.30 CET: The new Benedictine beer garden will be opened in the north west area of the stadium by E block.
New beer garden worth a visit
In future, the beer garden will be open on home matchdays two hours before kick-off providing fans with a special range of food and drinks. In addition to tasty specialities such as Fleischkäse meatloaf or spit roasts there will refreshing wheat beers on offer from Bayer 04 partner Bitburger. Around 200 seats will be available for people to meet up to discuss the game. And not only before matches but also at half-time and up to two hours after the final whistle. A DJ will also be on hand to spin the discs in the beer and fulfil requests from music lovers where possible.


Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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