
The friendly against Real Club Celta de Vigo (14.00 CET) is the highlight. Celta Vigo play in the Spanish top flight and they ended last season in thirteenth place under coach Eduardo Berizzo. One familiar face in their squad is Marcelo Díaz, who played for Hamburg SV in the Bundesliga until the last winter break.
Post-match autograph session
Once again, there will be plenty of activities for young and old throughout the stadium. That includes an autograph session with the Bayer 04 stars - that will take place after the match.
Tickets for the season launch will be available from the beginning of July via the usual channels at five euros for adults and three euros for children. Further information will be available at bayer04.de. Bayer 04 season ticket holders can look forward to receiving a personal invitation in the next few days. Every visitor will be entitled to a free drink - the entrance ticket counts as a voucher.
Pre-season timetable
The first team pre-season begins on 3 and 4 July, with extensive performance tests the Werkstatt. A day later, on Wednesday 5 July at 10.00 CET, head coach Heiko Herrlich will hold his first training session at the training ground. That session will be open so fans and visitors can see the squad in action in Leverkusen.
The Werkself play SF Baumberg on 8 July in a 14.30 CET kick-off. The match will staged at the nearby Jahnstadion in Langenfeld (Jahnstraße 4, 40764 Langenfeld). Bayer 04 have another friendly on 19 July against Bonner SC. The fixture in Bonn kicks off at 18.30 CET.
The summer training camp starts on 23 July. As in previous years, the squad will prepare for next season in the best possible conditions in Zell am See/ Kaprun until 31 July.
The first competitive game of the new campaign sees the Werkself take on third division opponents Karlsruhe SC in the DFB Cup. The tie will be played between 11 and 14 August.
The Bundesliga campaign starts a week later on 18 August. The German Football League (DFL) will publish the 2017/18 fixture list on 29 June.


From the 2027/28 season, the Women’s Bundesliga will be organised by an independent league association. Following the unanimous decision taken at the DFB Bundestag (national conference) on Friday afternoon, the league’s separation from the DFB is now official.
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Following the Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 20 September, 15:30 CEST), some of the Werkself first team players will be heading off for the first international break of the season. Here is an overview of the Bayer 04 players called up for their national teams and all the details of their upcoming matches.
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A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Werkself were feeling quite satisfied following their 2–0 home win in their opening match of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League, particularly with the result. At the same time, players and coaches agreed that, in terms of their performance, there was “still room for improvement”, as Robert Andrich put it. For his part, Moussa Diaby emphasised the importance of the victory with which the team had kicked off the campaign, and spoke personally about how good it felt to have started in front of the “wonderful” Bayer 04 fans this Tuesday evening for the first time since his return. The Werkself review of the Europa League opener.
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