The farewell for one of the biggest personalities in German football evoked great emotion at the BayArena in Leverkusen: The fans celebrated the Bayer 04 legend with a huge piece of choreography, standing ovations and chants of ‘There’s only one Rudi Völler.’ In addition, 25,000 T-shirts were distributed before the start of the game. All these actions had one message: “Thank you, Rudi!”
Werner Wenning, chairman of the shareholders committee at Bayer 04, plus CEO Fernando Carro presented Völler with a collage of images from over 28 years at the Werkself on the pitch and also praised the work of the 1990 World Cup winner for the Black and Reds. Völler then took to the microphone himself: “Today is the day where I say thank you to everybody who has supported our wonderful club from the bottom of their hearts over the years. As the club anthem says, we have to stand together in coming years with a cross on our chest in good and bad times – for a great atmosphere like today! That’s how I want to see you!”
With the exception of long break when he was the Germany coach (2000 to 2004), Rudi Völler has been part of Bayer 04 since 1994 and over the years developed into the face of the Werkself. Before his move to Leverkusen as a player, the Germany international with 90 caps had already seen a lot and achieved much more: In addition to the World Cup, the now 62-year-old played for AS Roma for five years and he won the UEFA Champions League with Olympique Marseille in 1993.
Towards the end of his career as a player, the Hanau-born striker played for Bayer 04 for two years from 1994 to 1996. The former world-class central striker explained his decision to join the Werkself back then in an interview in the Süddeutsche Zeitung: “It was a gut decision in the end to join Bayer 04 because I saw: At Leverkusen there was Bernd Schuster and Andi Thom plus a few others of the like who could set me up.” That’s what they did. He scored 31 goals in his 75 appearances for the Black and Reds.
Völler remained under the Bayer Cross when he hung up his boots in 1996 and he was introduced to the secrets of the management business by the then boss Reiner Calmund. Before his job with the DFB, he was the sporting director at Bayer 04 for four years and he worked in the same role for 13 years after his time with Germany before taking over the running of the Werkself as sporting managing director alongside Fernando Carro (CEO) in 2018.
Rudi Völler does not need to have any second thoughts about his successor with the Black and Reds: The 62-year-old has passed on the baton to sporting director Simon Rolfes who officially takes over as the sporting managing director on 1 July – and he will certainly have passed on one or two important lessons and anecdotes from his 28 years with Bayer 04 Leverkusen…
A group of about 50 members of the Bayer 04 Football Academy São Paulo visited Leverkusen over the past few days, accompanied by Bayer 04 club legend Paulo Sergio and Luiz Felipe (managing director of academy in São Paulo) for a week full of football, encounters and very special insights. In addition to the Bundesliga away game in Elversberg and the home game against Union Berlin, the visit also featured a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy in Leverkusen and a tour of the Bayer AG facilities. The guests also gained special insights into the club and the world of Bayer 04.
Show more
The men's clothing retailer LERROS will remain the official fashion and premium partner of Bayer 04 for the current season. As in the past, LERROS will provide the club's men's team, coaching staff and management with high-quality clothing for international trips.
Show more
“Diaby! Diaby! Diaby!” was the cry around the BayArena as the Werkself danced in front of the north stand following their 4-0 win over Union Berlin. Captain Edmond Tapsoba gave his new (and old) teammate a friendly shove forward to take in the acclaim from the fans. The returning Frenchman was typically reserved in thanking the supporters but was clearly emotional about what was happening.
Show more
Bayer 04 produced a dominant and impressive 4-0 win over Union Berlin as they picked up three points in their first home game of the 2026/27 Bundesliga campaign. Exequiel Fernández opened the scoring after only 41 seconds, with Facundo Medina doubling the lead before the half-hour mark. Patrik Schick and Ibrahim Maza continued the procession in the second period, in which Moussa Diaby came on for his first Leverkusen appearance for over three years.
Show more
