The Werkself are looking to take the next step in the race for Europe against the Royal Blues. "That was a very, very important win for us – also in terms of qualification for the Europa League. Everything is still really tight," said Werkself striker Kevin Volland in the Mixed Zone after the game. And Lukas Hradecky, who celebrated his 50th Bundesliga win against Frankfurt, calls for similarly courageous performances from the Werkself in the run-in: "We have to play the last two games at the same level – and then hopefully that will be enough to achieve the magical fourth spot." So the target is clear for the next 14 days. In that spirit, the Werkself gathered again on Monday morning at the BayArena – after a team meeting, the starting eleven from the Frankfurt game completed a regeneration session at the Werkstatt while the players on the bench including Paulinho and Mitchell Weiser completed a session on the training ground.
The Werkself have the day off tomorrow before the final open training session of the week on Wednesday (10.30 CET) ahead of the Schalke game at the weekend.
The majority of the media are agreed – Charles Aránguiz is the player of matchday 32. The Werkself number 20 provided the assists for the first two goals (assists number five and six for him in the current campaign) and he scored the goal to make it 4-1 at the end of an impressive solo run (second goal of the season). In addition, the Chilean won 65 per cent of his challenges and had the most possession of all the players on the pitch. Kicker, Sportschau and bundesliga.de recognised this performance with a place in the team of the week. There was a black and red dominance in the top teams. And the performances of Lucas Alario (kicker, Sportschau, bundesliga.de), Jonathan Tah, Julian Brandt, Kai Havertz (kicker, Sportschau) plus Sven Bender and Julian Baumgartlinger (both in kicker) also impressed the media.
Next weekend (10 to 12 May) Bayer 04 celebrate ‘40 years of the Bundesliga under the Bayer cross’ – commemorating the date of promotion to the Bundesliga on 13 May 1979, the Werkself have organised a three-day black and red event. It all kicks off on Friday night (19.04 CET, '19nullvier' Lounge at the BayArena) with the 'Day of Promotion' where many of the heroes of 1979 will mingle with the guests. The next day (1530 CET) brings the Bundesliga home game against Schalke 04 before celebrations continue on Sunday (from 10.00 CET) with a 'Day of Tradition' that includes a match involving the Bundesliga All-Stars at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The biggest Bayer 04 legends from the last four decades will be there to mark this anniversary – Jürgen Gelsdorf, Falko Götz, Bum-Kun Cha, Ulf Kirsten, Christoph Daum, Bernd Schneider, Erik Meijer, Paolo Sergio, Zé Roberto and Emerson have all confirmed. A limited number of tickets are available for the weekend events.
The penultimate Bundesliga matchday of the calendar year marks the end of an eventful first half of the season for the Bayer 04 Women. After seven wins, one draw and four defeats from the first twelve games of the season, coach Roberto Pätzold's team can go above Werder Bremen in the table with a win on Friday, 12 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET).
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The third showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 kicks off for the Leverkusen eSports team this Thursday, 11 December (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Red will once again take on six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round, which will take place at this third showdown on 19 December in Cologne. Showdown One winners Bayer 04 will face FC St. Pauli, who won the second showdown last month, among others. The lowdown on first three opponents in this online preliminary round.
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Alejandro Grimaldo, of course! With his late equaliser (88') in the Champions League clash against Newcastle United, the Spaniard rescued a point for the Werkself, who took the lead through an own goal by Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes (13') but went with two goals for the visitors scored by Anthony Gordon (51') and Lewis Miley (74'). It was the third draw for Bayer 04 in the current 2025/26 campaign on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase.
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The Werkself will be looking to continue their run in the Champions League against Newcastle United on Wednesday, 10 December (kick-off: 21:00 CET). The two victories without conceding a goal at Benfica (1:0) and Manchester City (2-0) will hopefully be followed by a win at home at the BayArena. Against the English side, who have a player with a Black and Red past in their ranks, the way to victory could be through efficiency in attack and quick transitional play. The latter in particular has recently caused the Magpies problems away from home on the European stage. Fans can also get the stylish matchday sticker for their Sound of Dreams tour pass at the Bayer 04 Fanwelt. The matchday news.
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For the first time ever, Bayer 04 have reached the knockout phase of the UEFA Youth League. At the end of the league phase, the Leverkusen U19s secured a 2-1 home win against Newcastle United on Wednesday, 10 December. Montrell Culbreath scored before half-time and Ferdinand Pohl doubled the lead after the restart in the clash with the English side. The UCL youth competition continues at the beginning of February with the Round of 32, which will be played away from home without a second leg.
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