9.45 CET: Departure of the Werkself from the BayArena
There was an emotional start to this special cup weekend! Early on Friday morning, over 1,000 Werkself supporters and Bayer 04 employees met up on Bismarckstraße to see their team again ahead of the cup tie, to motivate them and to show them: You’re not alone on your mission. The fans formed a guard of honour on both sides of the street the bus with the Werkself on board would travel down at 9.45 en route to Cologne/Bonn Airport.
11.00 CET: Flight departs for Berlin
The charter flight took off at 11.00 and landed safe and sound at Berlin-Tegel Airport just after midday. Also on board were the two managing directors Fernando Carro and Rudi Völler plus other Bayer 04 officials. The injured Daley Sinkgraven and youth players Marcel Lotka, Fabian Rüth, Ayman Azhil and Adrian Stanilewicz flew out to the capital on Saturday morning along with selected partner representatives and Bayer 04 members of staff.
12.30 CET: Team arrives at the hotel
After the transfer to the team hotel near to Potsdamer Platz - in the centre of the action in Germany’s biggest city - and the communal lunch, head coach Peter Bosz and captain Lars Bender went to the pre-match press conference at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.
18.30 CET: Final pre-match training session at the Olympic Stadium
The pre-match training session was held at the cult venue in the evening. In fine weather, Kai Havertz and Co. trained for 15 minutes in front of the media cameras as usual and 45 minutes behind closed doors.
11.00 CET: A couple of supporters in front of the team hotel
The DFB as match organisers and the finalists clearly advised fans ahead of the game not to travel Berlin because of the coronavirus pandemic and various hygiene regulations. Instead of the usual onslaught there were only a few supporters in front of the team hotel - mostly maintaining their social distance and with face masks.
14.30 CET: Pre-match walk
In the early afternoon, Peter Bosz, his coaches and players went for a communal walk as usual on matchdays to stretch the legs and get limbered up. The Berliners were not taken aback when they came across the Werkself players.
19.00 CET: Fans meet up in small groups
It got serious on Saturday night. Ahead of the 04th final involving the Black and Red, the Werkself fans met up in small group to enjoy the final in Leverkusen with a tasty meal and one or two cold drinks.
20.00 CET: The final at the Olympic Stadium
Shortly after that, it was time for referee Tobias Welz to start the 77th DFB Cup final - under exceptional circumstances - and the rest is history. The Werkself were able to collect their runners-up medals after the 4-2 defeat and then returned to the team hotel to see out the evening. On Sunday morning, Bayer 04 set off on the return journey to Leverkusen and the players started a well-deserved two-week break.
Whether it's sport or his private live: Captain Edmond Tapsoba tells us his top three personal favourites in twelve categories in edition #56 of the Werkself Magazine. The defender had to answer as quickly as he reacts on the pitch. 'On the Podium' with Edmond Tapsoba!
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“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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A floodlit derby, two further night games and a top-of-the-table clash on a Saturday afternoon: The German Football Association (DFB) has confirmed the exact dates for four further matchdays in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. This means all fixtures for the Bayer 04 women’s team up to the end of the year, as well as the first two in 2027, are now confirmed.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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