
“There was no miracle but we saw a renaissance in controlled football. We created several clear-cut chances, which is not a given against Atlético," said Schade in his speech at the post-match banquet in the team hotel.
In addition to the players plus coaches and support staff, invitations to the event went out to representatives of the press, sponsors and many fans. They all listened intently to Schade when he gave his assessment of this season's European campaign. "We can leave the European stage for this season with our heads held high and not by the back door. We remain unbeaten away from home and we have played well, particularly in the group stage," said the CEO.
He finished by looking forward: "We want to experience games like this again next season. I'm sure, if we can take forward the power and enthusiasm shown today then we will again be able to qualify for Europe next season."


From the 2027/28 season, the Women’s Bundesliga will be organised by an independent league association. Following the unanimous decision taken at the DFB Bundestag (national conference) on Friday afternoon, the league’s separation from the DFB is now official.
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Following the Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 20 September, 15:30 CEST), some of the Werkself first team players will be heading off for the first international break of the season. Here is an overview of the Bayer 04 players called up for their national teams and all the details of their upcoming matches.
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A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Werkself were feeling quite satisfied following their 2–0 home win in their opening match of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League, particularly with the result. At the same time, players and coaches agreed that, in terms of their performance, there was “still room for improvement”, as Robert Andrich put it. For his part, Moussa Diaby emphasised the importance of the victory with which the team had kicked off the campaign, and spoke personally about how good it felt to have started in front of the “wonderful” Bayer 04 fans this Tuesday evening for the first time since his return. The Werkself review of the Europa League opener.
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