The concourse at the BayArena is open to fans three hours before kick-off at 15:00 CEST. The stands are open from 16:30 CEST. For the season opener, shuttle buses operate from 15:00 CEST, and city buses run from 16:00 CEST. An overview can be found HERE. A valid ticket is required for entrance, which is exclusively available via the Bayer 04 app and can only be displayed there.
Fans can spend time enjoying the varied programme of events up to kick-off. Around the stadium there are child friendly activities, creative opportunities to join in and a range of games to provide the best possible entertainment. The youngest Werkself fans can look forward to bouncy castles and face painting for starters. There are also lots of places with stamp cards. Children can collect stamps there and at the end take part in a special prize game.
Another events area is an information stand from Bayer 04 partner Zweirad Prumbaum. Visitors to the stadium who have come to the season opener by bike can have a free bike check-up at Prumbaum. The award ceremony for the city bike event will take place at the stadium at half-time in the friendly.
See below for an overview of events:
Bayer 04 Club members can also look forward to special and exclusive events, which require prior registration. That includes a members dialogue with Bayer 04 CEO Fernando Carro.
Ahead of the friendly for the team under head coach Erik ten Hag, there will be an autograph session with the Bayer 04 Women's team (16:00 to 17:00 CEST on the west side of the BayArena). Before the game, there will also be roundtable discussion with Women's head coach Roberto Pätzold and Achim Feifel, sporting director of the Bayer 04 Women.
Before the match action, the men's and women's first-team squads will be officially presented on the pitch. After the final whistle, the players will distribute signed balls.
The shirts worn by the Werkself will be auctioned for a good cause following the friendly. Funds raised will go to the green tech company Plastiks who have been a partner of Bayer 04 since November last year. The sustainable organisation from Spain acts worldwide for the recycling of waste and against waste pollution. The match-worn shirts will be auctioned HERE.
Over 18,000 tickets have been sold for the season opener so far. Fans who don't want to miss out on the varied programme of events and the friendly against Pisa SC can secure tickets HERE. Bayer 04 Club members receive a discount of €5.00 leaving to them to pay just €10.00 per ticket. Tickets are exclusively available via the Bayer 04 app and can only be displayed there.
Like last year, Bayer 04 Women held their summer training camp in Rieden. Coach Roberto Pätzold gives his assessment of the time in the Upper Palatinate, discusses the integration of the 11 new players and the unusual team building measures, gives his thoughts on the friendly and looks ahead to the start of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga season in August.
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Just in time for the start of the summer holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Werkself will hold another open training session on Tuesday 21 July. The session at the BayArena is scheduled to start at 11:00 CEST and will again be available to watch in a live stream. The fans who are there can look forward to a very special surprise.
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Bayer 04 turned in a dominant performance in a 7-0 win against fifth-tier side Sportfreunde Baumberg in their first friendly ahead of the 2026/27 season. A brace from debutant Afonso Moreira (19', 27') either side of a Christian Kofane strike (23') put the Werkself 3-0 up in the first of the two 35-minute halves in Monheim am Rhein. After the break, Victor Boniface (49', 53'), Robert Andrich (56') and Nathan Tella (67') scored for the completely changed Leverkusen team. It was therefore a successful friendly debut for new head coach Carles Martínez and his team, although the hosts also had something to celebrate despite the defeat: the match marked the inauguration of Baumberg's new ground, the MEGA Stadion.
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Attention, Werkself fans: the new Away Matchday Collection is now available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt. It includes t-shirts, zip tops and jackets.
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