After breakfast and a morning rest, head coach Peter Bosz led his players on a walk along the beach promenade in Tel Aviv in sunshine and temperatures over 20 degrees at lunchtime. Several Werkself players took the opportunity to take snapshots of the Mediterranean and the long beach.
On Thursday evening (kick-off: 18.55 CET) in Petach Tikwa, a few kilometres east of Tel Aviv, Lukas Hradecky and Co. have a Europa League away game at Hapoel Beer Sheva. It is also the first competitive match for the Werkself on Israeli soil.
As usual, Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann will guide Bayer 04 fans through this encounter with their expertise and passion for the Black and Reds. Werks11 Radio starts broadcasting half an hour before kick-off with the duo reporting live from the BayArena. Log on to bayer04.de from 18.25 CET or via the Bayer 04 app.
The game against Be’er Sheva will also be shown on the streaming service DAZN. Lukas Schönmüller is the commentator and the former second division player Sebastian Kneißl is the pundit.
The Werkself completed their final pre-match training session on Wednesday evening following the press conference with Peter Bosz and Nadiem Amiri at the Ha Moshava Stadium. Bayer04.de brings you images from the floodlit session:
As announced by Chelsea on Wednesday, Kai Havertz has tested positive for coronavirus. The Bayer 04 homegrown talent is currently self-isolating according to the top English club and was therefore unable to play in Wednesday night’s 3-0 home win against Stade Rennes in the Champions League.
Havertz signed for the Premier League club in the summer after ten years at Bayer Leverkusen where, according to sporting managing director Rudi Völler, he developed into a “world class” player. Bayer 04 say: Get well soon, Kai!
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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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
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