+++7 September, 23.15 CEST+++
The match at the Jan Breydel Stadium ends with a 1-0 defeat for the Werkself against Club Brugge (HERE is the match report). Reaction to the opening game in the Champions League will be shown on Werkself TV. We wish everybody who travelled with us to Bruges a safe journey home.
+++7 September, 18.02 CEST+++
The Youth League opener is over. Our U19 team got off to a flying start against Club Brugge with Zidan Sertdemir netting the first goal. The team under head coach Sven Hübscher then conceded four goals with the first fixture of the European campaign in 2022/23 ending in a 4-1 defeat. 890 spectators watched the game in Roeselare, including Fernando Carro, Simon Rolfes and Rudi Völler. The Black and Red U19 players now head home to Leverkusen on the team bus. Have a safe journey, lads.
+++7 September, 15.51 CEST+++
As a taster ahead of this evening's Champions League game, Werkself TV is broadcasting the match between our U19 team and Club Brugge in the UEFA Youth League. The kick-off is at 16.00 CEST and the live stream is HERE.
+++7 September, 10.10 CEST+++
The Werkself are about to set off on the team bus for the warm-up session at the Jan Breydel Stadium. A suitable point in time to provide some information on today's venue: The stadium was opened in 1975 and has a capacity of 29,000. The ground is named after Jan Breydel one of the leaders of the Bruges matins – a bloody rebellion against the French King Philip IV at the start of the 14th century.
+++7 September, 8.27 CEST+++
Good morning from Bruges. The first players are at breakfast and we take a quick look at today's agenda: There is a warm-up session at 11 o'clock, followed by lunch, the team meeting plus the pre-match meal. The kick-off at the Jan Breydel Stadium is at 21.00 CEST..
+++6 September, 18.57 CEST+++
Our lads have inspected the pitch at the Jan Breydel Stadium and now they are off to the team hotel in the best of moods and with great anticipation ahead of tomorrow's match with the evening meal the last agenda item on the day of arrival. Lukas Hradecky and Co. will than have time to chill out.
+++6 September, 17.11 CEST+++
The arrival of the Werkself is gradually drawing to a close. In around 30 minutes, the destination of the Jan Breydel Stadium will have been reached. The pre-match press conference with head coach Gerardo Seoane and Robert Andrich will start in about an hour. The statements from the duo will appear later on our channels.
+++6 September, 15.50 CEST+++
The following 21 Werkself players are on the team bus: Lukas Hradecky, Niklas Lomb, Maximilian Neutgens (all goalkeepers), Piero Hincapie, Jonathan Tah, Mitchel Bakker, Odilon Kossounou, Paulinho, Robert Andrich, Sardar Azmoun, Kerem Demirbay, Nadiem Amiri, Edmond Tapsoba, Patrik Schick, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Moussa Diaby, Charles Aránguiz, Adam Hlozek, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Exequiel Palacios and Jeremie Frimpong.
+++6 September, 13.37 CEST+++
Training and lunch are over and the Bayer 04 group set off a few minutes ago. Lukas Hradecky and Co. face a three and a half hour journey on the team bus with the first stop at the Jan Breydel Stadium of Club Brugge. Have a good trip, everybody.
+++6 September, 11.02 CEST+++
The final pre-match training session at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium is underway. Three goalkeepers and 19 outfield players are taking part – of course, with the new UEFA Champions League balls at their feet...
+++ 6 September, 10.17 CEST+++
The Werkself meet up for the final session at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium at 11.00 CEST ahead of the away game in the Champions League. The Black and Red group will then head off by coach to West Flanders. On the agenda in the evening is a view of the pitch and the press conference at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
+++6 September, 09.34 CEST+++
The Werkself are back in the UEFA Champions League: After a break of two years, the Werkself are away to Club Brugge tomorrow night in the first group match. The kick-off at the Jan Breydel Stadium is at 21.00 CEST.
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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To all Bayer 04 fans: The Fanwelt will be closed all day next Monday 30 June. This is due to preparations for the change of kit supplier from Castore to New Balance on Tuesday 1 July.
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The Norway U23 international Julie Jorde has completed the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Brøndby IF. The twelve-time champions of Denmark have signed the midfielder on permanent terms after her loan move from the Bundesliga to Denmark in the winter.
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It is almost two years since Bayer 04 new signing Abdoulaye Faye first stepped foot into the BayArena as a player for the Swedish club BK Häcken in the opening match in the 2023/24 Europa League campaign. A day before his nineteenth birthday, the central defender did not play in the 4-0 win for the Werkself but it was "an incredible night" for him on 21 September 2023 as he explained in his first interview on bayer04.de. "I watched the players and saw the fans. I liked it." It was also the first European night early on in his career. He only joined the then champions of Sweden in the cold north of Europe from his home in Senegal a few weeks before that special moment. Bayer04.de profiles our new defender.
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Welcome, Abdoulaye Faye. The 20-year-old Senegalese central defender joins Leverkusen from top-flight Swedish club BK Häcken. In his first interview he talks about his move to Bayer 04 and his targets with the Werkself.
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