The Werkself have their first open training session on 15 July, the day after returning to work, and that will be followed by the first friendly away to third-division side Rot-Weiss Essen on 26 July (kick-off at 19:00 CEST). The official Bayer 04 training camp will be held in Donaueschingen in the Black Forest from 28 July to 2 August. The team hotel is Der Öschberghof and Bayer 04 will use the training facilities of local club SV Aasen, where Premier League club Liverpool trained last year under head coach Jürgen Klopp. The Spain team are also based there this summer for the European Championship.
At the end of the training camp, the team will travel from Donaueschingen to France, for a friendly against French Ligue 1 side RC Lens on Saturday 3 August (16:00 CEST).
Four days later, the Werkself face another stern test, this time in England. The friendly at Arsenal, whose team includes ex-Bayer 04 man Kai Havertz, takes place at the Emirates Stadium in London on Wednesday 7 August (19:00 CEST, 18:00 local time).
All dates at a glance* (all times CEST):
*Last-minute changes are possible
Further dates will be announced by Bayer 04.
The Werkself will play Bundesliga runners-up VfB Stuttgart in the DFL Supercup on 17 August in Leverkusen. Bayer 04 will open the 2024/25 Bundesliga season in defence of their title on Friday 23 August (opponents to be confirmed).
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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The Werkself entertain Italian club Pisa FC, newly promoted to Serie A, at the official season opener at the BayArena on Tuesday, 5 August (kick-off: 18:00 CEST). Bayer 04 fans can look forward to a varied programme of events and exciting promotions. Tickets for the season opener are on open sale with over 18,000 tickets sold so far. Read on for the latest information.
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An experienced addition to the Bayer 04 U19 coaching staff: Former Werkself player Hüzeyfe Doğan starts as assistant coach to Sergi Runge on 1 August.
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The Werkself are away to Werder Bremen on Matchday 2 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The game at the Weserstadion will be played on Saturday, 30 August with the kick-off at 15:30 CEST. Information on match ticket sales.
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