Live blog: The Werkself away to Manchester City ✈️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

+++ 26 November, 4:48: Back in Leverkusen! ✔️ +++

The Werkself are back: the winners' plane took off from Manchester at around 02:00 and landed back at Cologne Bonn Airport at 04:30 CET. With wonderful memories of this successful short trip running through our minds, it's now time for bed. We're already looking forward to the next UCL adventure! And it won't be long in coming: our next opponents in Europe's premier club competition are Newcastle United, who will visit the BayArena on Matchday 6 on Wednesday, 10 December (kick-off: 21:00 CET). There are still a few tickets for the match available HERE. Goodnight - or should we say good morning?

+++ 25 November, 23:12: Wonderwall! 🥹🫶 +++

A poor dress rehearsal leads to an even better premiere - there's no better way to describe it after yesterday's travel chaos! The Werkself have secured a 2-0 win at 2023 Champions League winners Manchester City! Alejandro Grimaldo and Patrik Schick scored against the Blues to reward a disciplined, passionate and self-sacrificing performance over 90 minutes from a severely depleted Werkself.

• Click here for the full match report!

Following the press conference, the Bayer 04 squad are heading straight home. It's going to be a long night, but we've got something nice to dream about! 🤩😴

+++ 25 November, 21:48: Ahead at the break thanks to Grimaldo 🥳🫶 +++

Well, it's going well here! Even though the Blues spent most of the first 45 minutes in Leverkusen's half, the Werkself have been really clever so far. With Mark Flekken and his front men making some great defensive saves and Alejandro Grimaldo once again netting fantastically up front, the Werkself head into the break with a 1-0 lead. Let's see if Pep Guardiola reacts at the restart and brings some fresh attacking power onto the pitch in the shape of Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva or Phil Foden, for example. Presumably some of you will be familiar with today's substitutes for City...

So, get yourself a cold drink - or a hot drink in these temperatures - and then switch on Werkself radio. As always via our app or bayer04.de! Catch up with you soon! 🖤❤️

+++ 25 November, 19:47: The stage is set! 😍🌟 +++

Just over an hour to go before the big gig starts and things at last get underway here at the City of Manchester Stadium! Coach Kasper Hjulmand has made three changes to his starting XI from the 3-1 win at VfL Wolfsburg. Jarell Quansah, Jeanuel Belocian and Christian Kofane replace the suspended Edmond Tapsoba and Robert Andrich, as well as Jonas Hofmann, who was not included in the Champions League squad. For all further information - both before and during the match - we heartily recommend the live blog and Werkself Radio, which will go on air 30 minutes before kick-off. You can treat yourself to the maximum amount of Black and Red with the combination of both. In any case, we can't wait for this cracker!

+++ 25 November, 17:57: Resounding defeat in the Youth League 😔 +++

In the end, our U19s simply had too many absences. A total of 11 players were unavailable, five of whom are part of the senior Champions League squad. After a goalless first half, which was evenly-matched at times, the Blues turned up the heat after the break and inflicted a 6-0 defeat on their visitors (Read the match report!). As a result, the Werkself will in all likelihood have to pick up points - ideally three - on the sixth and final matchday of the league phase if they're to reach the knockout stage. As always, all the information on the home game against Newcastle United in just over two weeks' time will follow on our channels in due course. Pick yourself up, lads, let's get on with it! Now it's time for a quick shower and a meal together before the U19s take the short journey over to the City of Manchester Stadium.

+++ 25 November, 17:13: Vibrant metropolis in the north-west of England 🏙️ +++

While a small group is already in action with the U19s, the other part of our media team has spent the cold but gloriously sunny winter weather in Manchester city centre, where winter markets are already creating a festive atmosphere on every corner, looking for Bayer 04 fans - and finding them!

Around 550,000 people live in the city, which is considered the birthplace of the industrial revolution and combines tradition and zeitgeist. Sightseeing highlights include the Gothic Manchester Cathedral, the National Football Museum with its modern glass architecture and (for some of us and you) of course the Classic Football Shirt Shop. And we practically bumped into Oasis too 😉

To get you in the right mood or for your journey to the stadium, we recommend our "Sound of Dreams – #aCROSS Europe 2025/26“ Spotify playlist! "Cause maybeeeee…“ 🎶📢

+++ 25 November, 15:21: Live stream für Bayer 04 members📺🤝 +++

Any Bayer 04 members can watch the Youth League match for free here on bayer04.de or on the app.

+++ 25 November, 15:00: 1 hour to kick-off! ⏳💪 +++

Our U19 goalkeepers have just taken to the pitch at the Manchester City Academy Stadium to warm-up. The ground holds around 7,000 spectators and is just a stone’s throw away from City’s main stadium, where the Werkself’s senior team will play later tonight.

+++ 25 November, 12:13: Activation in hotel 🔥✔️ +++

While the players get loosened up for the game with their activation session in the hotel, we’ve got our usual matchday news and stats for you. It’s the first competitive meeting between Leverkusen and Manchester City, who sit fourth in the league phase with three wins and a draw. The Werkself are looking to improve on their meagre record of just one win in the last 10 visits to England.

+++ 25 November, 9:04: Double matchday! 😍🌟 +++

It’s a pretty good feeling waking up and knowing you get to watch two Leverkusen teams in action today. Before Kasper Hjulmand’s side take on Erling Haaland and Manchester City at 21:00 tonight, the U19s will face their City counterparts in the UEFA Youth League from 16:00. Ahead of all that, though, we’ll bring you updates from the first team’s activation session at the hotel and a few more impressions of Manchester.

+++ 24 November, 22:27: Goodnight from Manchester! 😴 +++

Incidentally, the sporting part of the day begins tomorrow at the Academy, which was briefly mentioned below. That's where the U19s will play their Youth League match against Manchester City's youngsters. Werkself-TV will be showing the game live and in full exclusively for Bayer 04 club members from around 15.50 CET . And with that recommendation, we'll let you go off into the night and say “Good night” from the UK!

+++ 24 November, 20:59: Hjulmand and Garcia on the clash and the reunion 💬 +++

The matchday press conference with Kasper Hjulmand and Aleix Garcia in the media centre of the City of Manchester Stadium has just come to an end. While Hjulmand spoke about the approach to the clash with Erling Haaland and Co, Garcia provided a nice anecdote about his last reunion to date with his former coach Pep Guardiola, among other things. Click HERE for the key statements from the press conference!

+++ 24 November, 19:41: Arrived and off to the stadium! 🛬🏟️ +++

Even the odd minor delay before take-off and after landing did nothing to disrupt the Werkself's composure - or their focus. Now it's off to the team hotel for dinner for the majority of the squad - and the same goes for the U19s, of course. Coach Kasper Hjulmand and long-serving Man City player Aleix Garcia are heading straight to the City of Manchester Stadium, where the press conference is about to take place. The key statements and impressions from the media suite will be available here later. Until then!

+++ 24 November, 15:36: Manchester-bound! ✈️+++

The Werkself have arrived at Cologne Bonn Airport! At 15:55, the team plane takes off for Manchester. Landing is scheduled for 17:30. We'll report back later from British soil!

+++ 24 November, 13:02: Rolfes on the team's development 💬 +++

In parallel to the action on the pitch, sporting managing director Simon Rolfes spoke to the numerous media representatives in attendance. He was quite confident: "The learning from the past games against the top opponents is that we must and can be more courageous. It's normal to suffer from time to time in games like this. But you also have to try to set the tone yourself in order to hurt the top teams. And we're currently in good shape to do that."

This is mainly due to the growing team awareness and visible learning effects, Rolfes continued: "We've managed to get more dominance into our own game, more link-up play and more understanding for each other. That's particularly important when you link-up a lot - to know what the other team are doing," said Rolfes. "That's why games like this are so wonderful, because you're pushed to your limits, sometimes even beyond them, but you develop further in any case. So we're heading into the game with confidence, a lot of energy and joy."

Rolfes also had words of praise for Aleix Garcia, who will take part in the press conference this evening alongside coach Kasper Hjulmand: "We signed him last year with the idea that he could take on this role and exude dominance from the number 6 position. This year, he's showing that his passing is incredibly reliable, he demands the ball, gives our game a rhythm and the idea from a year ago is working."

After lunch together in the BayArena, the entourage will start making its way towards the airport in a few minutes...

+++ 24 November, 12:56: Birthday guard of honour at the final training session 🎁🥳 +++

At 12.30 on the dot, the Werkself got down to business one last time at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion before travelling to Manchester. The icy temperatures did nothing to dampen the spirits of everyone involved. The session kicked off with a fun guard of honour for birthday boy Ibrahim Maza, who turned 20 today. All the best, Ibo!

Training then continued in small groups with various passing sequences and shooting at mini goals. Robert Andrich and Edmond Tapsoba also took part in the final training session, although they will remain in Leverkusen.  Andrich is suspended following a red card, Tapsoba is sidelined after picking up a yellow. Assistant coach Rogier Meijer is also suspended following his red card in Lisbon and will watch the match from the stands.

+++ 24 November, 12:42: Final training session for the U19s at the BayArena ✔️ +++

The U19s started their final session ahead of tomorrow's UEFA Youth League clash right on time at 11.30. The final training session under the direction of coach Kevin Brok on one of the training pitches next to the BayArena came to an end a few minutes ago. Now it's time for the boys to take a shower, then have lunch together and finally take the team bus to Cologne Bonn Airport. You can find all the information and comments on the Youth League match in Manchester at the following link:

PREVIEW!

+++ 24 November, 11:47: Already got the Manchester sticker? 🤝 +++

As you know, the motto of our Champions League tour this season is ‘Sound of Dreams - #aCROSS Europe 2025/26’. To mark the occasion, there's a special tour pass in the Fanwelt in which you can put a sticker for every UCL match. In addition, a specially created, matching Spotify playlist will get you in the right Champions League mood.

+++24 November, 9:04: We're ready to get cracking! 😍 +++

Good morning, Werkself fans! The next European trip of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign starts today and takes Bayer to English top-flight club Manchester City. And this is the schedule for the day: The Werkself will have their final training session at around 12.30 at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. The first 15 minutes are open to media representatives and, as always, will be broadcast live on our YouTube channel. Sporting managing director Simon Rolfes will also speak to the media shortly before the start of training - the key statements will of course also be available here.

After lunch following the session, the Bayer 04 squad - including the U19s for tomorrow's UEFA Youth League match - will head to the airport and from there to Manchester. After landing, head coach Kasper Hjulmand and former City player Aleix Garcia will head straight to the press conference at the City of Manchester Stadium, tomorrow's venue. A packed schedule - and of course you'll be with us every step of the way!