Back again! The Black and Reds are back in the Champions League after two seasons in the Europa League. As one of four German clubs – Eintracht Frankfurt can qualify by winning in the final of the Europa League – Bayer 04 compete in the 68th season of the competition that starts with first qualifiers on 21 June and finishes with the final in Istanbul on 10 June 2023.
The Werkself have qualified for the group stages and thereby avoid the play-offs. The three opponents Bayer 04 will face in the group stage will be decided at the draw of the groups on 25 August.
National champions like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain will be in pot 1. Borussia Dortmund are also certain of qualifying after finishing second in the Bundesliga. The Werkself will be in pot 2, 3 or 4. That will de determined according to UEFA’s five-year assessment of the club coefficient in 2021/22.
Champions League games are traditionally played on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. The dates for the group games are as follows:
Matchday 1: 6/7 September 2022
Matchday 2: 13/14 September 2022
Matchday 3: 4/5 October 2022
Matchday 4: 11/12 October 2022
Matchday 5: 25/26 October 2022
Matchday 6: 1/2 November 2022
If Bayer 04 finish first or second in their group, the Werkself will be through to the knockout rounds for the eighth time in the thirteenth campaign in the Champions League.
The Round of 16 will be drawn on 7 November and played between the middle of February and the middle of March next year. The quarter-finals are in the middle of April and the semi-finals in the middle of May. The final at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium is, as previously mentioned, is to be played on 10 June 2023.
Bayer 04 have made the third highest number of appearances in the Champions League (12) for a Bundesliga club behind Bayern Munich (25) and Borussia Dortmund (16). RB Leipzig have been in the Champions League four times and Borussia Mönchengladbach plus VfL Wolfsburg three times each.
While there are no Bundesliga fixtures during international break, last weekend brought overweight fans from 16 first, second and third tier sides together on the pitch in Leverkusen. Over 200 participants in the health promotion programme 'Football fans in training' (FFIT), organised by Deutsche Krebshilfe (the German cancer support organisation) and the Institute for Therapy and Health Research (IFT-Nord) accepted the invitation from Bayer 04 and Deutsche Krebshilfe on 12 October for the 2024 XXL fans tournament.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended their sponsorship portfolio with the addition of another supporter in the Business Club. GMS Giganetz GmbH and the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal winners have agreed a partnership to 30 June 2026.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-1 draw at SV Werder Bremen on matchday 6 of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2024/25...
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A special stage for women's football: When the Bayer 04 Women's team face Werder Bremen on Saturday, 12 October (kick-off: 14.00 CEST), the team led by coach Roberto Pätzold will play in front of an unusually large crowd. 19,000 tickets have already been sold for the big match at the Weserstadion.
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