It would be a first of the season and much to the liking of the Werkself and their fans: Bayer 04 have not been able to win three fixtures in succession this term. After the two wins against Wolfsburg and Mönchengladbach, all Black and Reds are hoping that run will end on Sunday (15.30 CET, RhineEnergie Stadium ) in the 62nd Bundesliga derby against FC Köln. "It would be the best moment of the season," said Bayer 04 keeper Bernd Leno in an interview with sports journal the Kicker, "three, four wins on the bounce would reflect our performances." Leverkusen have not lost to their rivals from along the Rhine for nearly seven years, earning two wins and two draws at FC Köln along the way.
The situation ahead of the second game of the season against FC is completely different from last term: Back then, the Werkself were in a relegation battle while FC Köln were on course to qualify for Europe. This time it is the other way round. Nevertheless - or perhaps because of it – Heiko Herrlich is expecting an evenly balanced encounter. "FC Köln have to be taken seriously. I saw the game in Bremen and I never had the impression the two teams were in a position to be involved in a relegation battle," said the head coach at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon held at the media centre at the BayArena, broadcast live as usual on bayer04.de and Facebook.
Herrlich stressed that FC are eleventh in the form table for the second half of the season. "And FC Köln have already won three times on the trot this season, which we haven't managed to achieve yet. But on Sunday we want to pick up three points. This is a massive chance to get three wins in a row," said the Werkself coach who is prepared to face an opponent willing to use all means possible to get a result. "It will be similar to the Hamburg and Wolfsburg games where we also met two tough opponents. But the team did well to come out on top both times," said the Bayer 04 coach.
It remains to be seen who will be in the Werkself squad for the derby. There are question marks over three players. Stefan Kießling has picked up a cold and did not train on Thursday. Lars Bender, suffering with a groin problem, and Charles Aránguiz, with a calf issue, were able to work on their own today. "We'll have to wait until the final pre-match training session on Saturday. It's looking more likely that Charles will be able to play. We won't take any risks with Lars," said Herrlich who is looking to build on the impressive form of his central striker Lucas Alario in the derby. "Lucas not only scores goals and provides assists but he also works for the team. Pressing the ball and the desire to help the team are very important to me. He has made a vast improvement in that respect. We are glad to have him," declared Herrlich.
Bayer 04 will have the backing of 3,200 fans on Sunday.
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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