Kevin Volland underwent a successful operation on his ankle last night following the injury suffered in Thursday’s 2-1 win in the Europa League game against FC Porto. The operation was performed by Professor Walther at the Schön-Klinik Harlaching in Munich. The 27-year-old posted a thumbs-up photo from hospital on Instagram on Tuesday afternoon. In spite of the pain and the prospect of weeks in rehab, Volland has not lost his sense of humour as he wrote on his plaster cast with a wink of the eye: “The football boot is back on.” Volland will start his rehab treatment at the Werkstatt in Leverkusen.
While Volland is recovering from his operation, the Werkself fly out to Porto tomorrow (Wednesday) for the second leg in the Round of 32 tie (Thursday, 27 February, 18.55 CET – live text commentary and Werks11 Radio at bayer04.de). Both the Werkself and FC Porto enjoyed a boost at the weekend ahead of the game: The ‘Dragons’ beat next-to-bottom Portimonense SC in the league on Saturday. The winning goal was scored by Alex Telles a few minutes before the end of the game.
Talking about Europa League: If the Werkself go through to the Round of 16 on Thursday night, then Friday will be exciting. The draw in Nyon is at 13.00 CET.
Today, Shrove Tuesday, marks the end of the current carnival season – it’s been very colourful, entertaining and fun at Bayer 04 too. At the carnival parades in Leverkusen, Brian the Lion and the Schwadbus flew the flag for the club. On Friday, members of the Löwenclub were in Hitdorf, the Bayer 04 Club and the Silver Lions were in Schlebusch on Saturday and Bayer 04 members of staff were in Opladen on Rose Monday with countless sweets distributed at all parades. Unfortunately, the weather put paid to the hopes of the Teens04 on Sunday – the carnival procession in Wiesdorf was cancelled due to the prospect of heavy storms. The day was not a complete washout for the group – it ended on a high note with a 2-0 win for the Werkself against FC Augsburg at the BayArena.
The ‘Sportschau’ included Exequiel Palacios in their ‘Team of Matchday 23’. The ‘Kicker’ put Nadiem Amiri in their ‘Team of the Day’. The sports journal also named the 23-year-old as the Man of the Match after the Werkself game against FC Augsburg. The reasons: “He was the driving force in Bayer’s game, won the ball a lot in defence and often made himself available. Nadiem Amiri scored to make 2-0 at the end of an unstoppable run.”
While the Werkself still have eleven games to play in the Bundesliga, the #B04eSports players have their final matchday night. In the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL), Kai ‘Deto’ Wollin and Fabian ‘B04_Dubzje’ De Cae entertain Eintracht Frankfurt. The matches against the team in ninth place start at 20.30 CET. As usual, the games will be streamed live at Twich (https://www.twitch.tv/b04esports).
Bayer 04 will have to manage without defender Guéla Doué for the time being. The Ivory Coast international sustained a muscle injury to his right calf during the final Werkself training session yesterday ahead of the Europa League clash with Slovenian champions NK Celje.
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For the first time since reaching the final against AS Roma (2–2, first leg 2–0) in May 2024, Bayer 04 are playing another home match in the UEFA Europa League – and they will be wearing their new European kit. On Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), the BayArena will welcome Slovenian champions NK Celje, who appointed a new coach this week following a mixed start to the season. Under the slogan “40 Years Across Europe. Still Creating History.”, the Black and Reds now aim to add the next chapter to their European history, which has seen so much success in recent years. Bayer 04 fans can follow the match on free-to-air TV on RTL, as well as on Sky and Werkself Radio. The matchday news.
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European football returns to the BayArena: Bayer 04 host Slovenian champions NK Celje on matchday 1 in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. Ahead of the match on Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez and midfielder Aleix Garcia spoke at the pre-match press conference. The focus was primarily on the great anticipation surrounding the competition and the clear objectives for it – and, given the circumstances, on a last-minute change to the opposition line-up.
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The champions of Slovenia NK Celje are in a European competition for the fourth time in their history. This Wednesday, 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), the side lead by head coach Vitor Campelos visit the BayArena for matchday 1 in the group stage in the UEFA Europa League. Celje’s last match at the weekend did not go to plan. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Construction work continues on the ‘Haus der Talente’ on Kurtekottenweg in Leverkusen, where 36 young elite athletes will find a new home from next summer. The building team from Temmink Bau, led by Thomas Wellers, are hard at work. Over the past few days, excavators, wheeled loaders and rollers have removed 2,500 cubic metres of soil to excavate the basement.
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