Ballack, who played for Leverkusen between 1998 and 2002 and again from 2010 to 2012, said: “I feel honoured to be able to officially represent Bayer 04 in this capacity. The team is playing incredibly dominant, attractive and successful football this season. I therefore wish the team, the management and the fans a worthy end to this outstanding season.”
CEO Fernando Carro is delighted “that a global star like Michael Ballack is once again representing our colours. We want to further intensify our relationship with him in the future and complete projects together.” Leverkusen's managing director for sport Simon Rolfes, who played alongside the former Germany captain in the national team and at the BayArena, also sees this as a strong sign: “Michael made a significant contribution to turning Bayer 04 into a top club at the turn of the millennium. He and his teammates were able to win over many fans for Bayer 04 with their inspiring football. Michael has left his mark on German football over the years and therefore has great charisma that makes him ideally qualified for this role.”
In addition to Ballack, Rüdiger Vollborn will also take on important representative duties for Bayer 04 in the coming weeks. The legendary goalkeeper, who won the UEFA Cup with the Werkself in 1988 and the DFB Cup in 1993, will officially represent Bayer 04 at the DFB's big Celebration Party on the eve of the final. In addition, Rudi will fulfil numerous media and PR appointments surrounding the final. In addition to Vollborn and Rolfes, all other honorary captains – namely Stefan Kiessling, Bernd Schneider, Ulf Kirsten, Lars Bender and Carsten Ramelow – have been invited to Berlin, as has Jens Nowotny, who played a decisive role as defensive boss in the Werkself's outstanding 2001/02 season. Brazilian Bayer 04 Legend Paulo Sergio will also be on hand to answer questions from various international TV stations.
After starting his career with this year's final opponents Kaiserslautern, Ballack developed into one of the Bundesliga’s best players of his time at Bayer 04 from 1998 to 2002. During this stint, the goalscoring midfielder also gained international renown, and his moves to Bayern Munich and later to Premier League club Chelsea made him a global star.
Despite his defeat with Bayer 04 in 2002, Berlin also has positive connotations for Ballack. He won the final and got to lift the DFB Cup there twice in a row with Bayern in 2004 and 2005.
High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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Sofie Zdebel is up for the Goal of the Month award for February on ARD-Sportschau. Fans have until 21 March (19:00 CET) to vote for the Germany U23 international's volley to make it 2-0 in the Bayer 04 Women's derby against FC Köln (2-1).
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen are further expanding their partner network: The feed manufacturer PerNaturam is an official sponsor of the Bayer 04 Womens team. The partnership opens up a wide range of opportunities for the company to position its brand in the Bundesliga environment.
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Do you dream of wearing the Bayer cross on your chest? To play in black and red like your role models Loreen Bender, Cornelia Kramer, Kristin Kögel and co. from the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga? Then take your chance now! Our female youth teams are once again on the lookout for new talent. That's why Bayer 04 are organising a talent day on 12 April 2026 for the first time this year with trials for female juniors.
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