After a break of three years, the Champions League anthem will soon ring out again across the BayArena. For the twelfth time in total – and for the sixth time in the past eight years. The Werkself will have to be patient for another couple of months before it all kicks off – and also until the draw of the group stages to be held in Monaco on 29 August. The first matchday is set for 17 and 18 September.
As in previous years, a total of 32 teams will take part in the group stage of Europe's premier club competition (with eight groups of four). The direct qualifiers are the Champions League winners plus the winners of the Europa League, the best four teams in Germany, England, Italy and Spain, the best two teams from France and Russia plus the national champions from Portugal, Ukraine, Belgium and Turkey. As the two finalists in this season's Champions League – Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool – are qualified for the group stage through a top four finish in the Premier League, the automatic qualification place for the winners of the final goes to the eleventh-placed national association (Austria) – that means the champions FC Salzburg in this case. Talking about Salzburg. Like the Austrians and Valencia, Bayer 04 will be in Pot three for the draw.
The ultimate line-up for next season's Champions League is not yet finalised. To this point, the following 23 clubs have qualified (as at 21 May 2019): Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Bayer 04 (all Germany), Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur (all England), Juventus, Napoli (both Italy), Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, Valencia (all Spain), Paris St Germain, Lille (both France), Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia), Benfica (Portugal), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), KRC Genk (Belgium), Galatasaray (Turkey) plus FC Salzburg (Austria).
In Italy, Bergamo, Inter Milan and AC Milan are fighting for the remaining two places in Italy from the final match day. In Russia the last direct qualification spot is between FK Krasnodar and Locomotive Moscow. If Arsenal win the Europa League then the London team would be the fifth English side in the Champions League. The remaining places will be decided in the qualifying rounds from the end of June.
The final will be played on 30 May 2020 – for the second time since 2005 – at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in the Turkish capital Istanbul (75,145 capacity).
Bayer 04 supporters can already secure tickets for Champions League home games. With a Bundesliga Plus season card. This option secures a seat for all Bayer 04 competitive games at the BayArena in the 2019/20 season, for the Bundesliga fixtures and additional games in the DFB Cup and the Champions League.
The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for Bundesliga ‘Rookie of the Month’ for February. Among the candidates is Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 March (23:59 CET).
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On a day that celebrated 50 years of official Bayer 04 fan clubs with festivities on the pitch during the match against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday, New York-based Werkself Warriors were proudly represented on the field by co-founder Alex Kramm.
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The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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