After days off at the start of the week as a reward for successful qualification for the Champions League, his team “were focused and in good mood in training,” as Gerardo Seoane explained on Friday afternoon. The Swiss coach is full of anticipation: “It’s our last game of the season, the atmosphere will be great – I feel everybody is really keen to play tomorrow.”
And the target is clear: a win – for the fans but also for Rudi Völler. The Hanau-born former Germany international joined Leverkusen as player in 1994 and he went on to become caretaker coach, sporting director and most recently the Bayer 04 sporting managing director. The 43-year-old coach was full of praise for the 62-year-old: “We have all benefited from Rudi’s experience and know-how and we what he has done for Bayer 04 and German football. We are very happy he will stay on in another role and we wish him all the best.” After this season, Völler will join the shareholders committee at the club and also be a Bayer 04 ambassador.
While the Werkself are certain of finishing third, Freiburg in fifth place, with a two-point gap to RB Leipzig (away to Bielefeld) in fourth, are still in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions League. “They are at the top end of the table for a reason and have absolutely deserved to qualify for Europe,” declared Seoane who primarily highlighted the strength of tomorrow’s opponents from set pieces.
Tomorrow’s game will also be the final game for Werkself player Julian Baumgartlinger. The now 34-year-old midfielder joined Bayer 04 from Mainz 05 six years ago and he went on to make over 150 appearances for the Black and Reds. Seoane said Baumi would play against SCF and he thanked him for his commitment in a Werkself shirt: “We are all very grateful to have such a player and person in our ranks. Even though he’s had a lot of bad luck with injuries this season he was always close the team and, above all, he was ready to help young players at all times. We really wish him a good future and hope he will stay fit and healthy.”
Kerem Demirbay is definitely ruled out through injury. Jeremie Frimpong is also not in the squad. “It’s come too early for him,” said Seoane who is thinking about possible changes in his line-up but he was unwilling to share his ideas at the press conference.
In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...
After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
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Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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