
The Werkself are in the last four on the European stage for the fourth time in the club's history. They were knocked out by Palma in the UEFA Cup in 1994/95, the Black and Reds reached the finals of the UEFA Cup in 1987/88 and the Champions League in 2001/02. Bayer 04 are looking for a repeat in the current campaign as sporting managing director Simon Rolfes said after the final whistle in the second leg at Union Saint-Gilloise: "There's just one target and that's the final."
The route to the final in the Europa League in 2022/23 is via AS Roma. The top Italian team beat Feyenoord after extra time in the quarter-finals and they have some famous players in Stephan El Shaarawy, Georginio Wijnaldum and Paulo Dybala. José Mourinho, the current coach at AS Roma, will face one of his former players at Real Madrid in the games against the Werkself: today's Bayer 04 head coach Xabi Alonso. "We want to give our all in the league and in Europe," declared the Spaniard after reaching the semi-finals.

The Werkself play the first leg in Rome on 11 May with the kick-off at 21.00 CEST (ticket information to follow). That is followed a week later by the second leg at the BayArena in Leverkusen, which was sold out after 90 minutes.
The Werkself can also count on the full support of their fans in the Bundesliga: Four of the last five league home games have been sold out. And all the home tickets have been sold for the match against RB Leipzig on Sunday (kick-off: 17.30 CEST). 29,000 fans are expected at the BayArena including 713 from Leipzig.
The Werkself are then away to Union Berlin. The away allocation has been sold out. The following home derby against FC Köln is also a sell-out..
Success on the pitch and the good atmosphere at the BayArena have helped to ensure a rapid increase in membership numbers at Bayer 04 over recent weeks: The threshold of 33,000 members was achieved a few days ago and now there are 1,000 more. Bayer 04 look forward to great support for the season run-in.
Us. For our dream.

The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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