It's child's play: Every tweet using the hashtag #nextLEVel will automatically appear at Leverkusen. The best and most emotional will go straight onto the screens at the BayArena. One special factor: The whole thing is not limited by time or place. All Bayer 04 fans, whether at the stadium, in Germany or across the world can show their support for the Werkself from now using the hashtag #nextLEVel. And it could very well provide a decisive extra percent of motivation for Kevin Kampl, Stefan Kießling and Co.: It's worth joining in! For the Werkself! For the quarter-finals!
The campaign started on Sunday with an emotional video where Kevin Kampl, Stefan Kießling, Karim Bellarabi and Danny Da Costa join together to ask all Werkself fans for their active support. In the words of the team: "It was close last time. It's our competition! We want your support at home! Together against Atlético!" – So don't hesitate to support the Werkself in the most important home game of the season to date against Atlético Madrid with tweets using the hashtag #nextLEVel.
Bayer 04 ran a similar campaign to bid farewell to Bayer 04 honorary captain Simon Rolfes. In his last match in a Leverkusen shirt, the Werkself legend Rolfes was the subject of numerous tweets using the hashtag#DankeSimon on the screens at the BayArena. Now it’s time now for a new one. It's down to the fans and the team to do all they can to get past Atlético and into the quarter-finals. Take the next step: #nextLEVel.
Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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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 personal 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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