In the run-up to Leverkusen's Bundesliga Matchday 6 encounter at home to newly promoted Holstein Kiel on 5 October (15:30 CEST), the Schlebusch district is coming into focus with various activities organised by the works club. After holding their own training session, Haim and Merino Gonzalez spent plenty of time with the 30 children at the primary school.
For former Nuremberg player Haim, the project was something close to her heart. Until her move from the relegated Bundesliga side to Bayer 04, the 27-year-old had also worked full-time as a teacher at a secondary school. "Normally I always had to deal with older pupils, who aren't as easily enthused as the primary school children," said Haim. "The atmosphere was great right from the start, the children were very excited. The children had lots of friends throughout the lesson and were very enthusiastic. I definitely want to work at a school again when my footballing career is over."
After a short football warm-up exercise, the Bayer 04 players let the children compete in a penalty shootout, with Merino Gonzalez and Haim trying their hand at goalkeeping. Afterwards, the pupils, divided into three alternating teams, played a game across the entire field. Afterwards, the Leverkusen duo patiently took time to answer the children's many questions and autograph requests. As a gift, they each received two tickets for the women's home game against German champions FC Bayern Munich on Sunday 20 October (18:30 CEST).
"It was a lot of fun for me to experience a class like this from the perspective of a teacher because I still go to school myself," said 17-year-old Merino Gonzalez. "The children had so much fun, you could see the smiles on their faces. That makes me very happy." So happy that the campaign doesn't have to be a one-off experience for her. "I could even imagine wanting to work as a teacher myself after my career," added the striker.
Bayer 04 is holding the so-called District Matchdays for the second year running in the 2024/25 season. In each district of Leverkusen, a range of activities and workshops with the pros will take place ahead of selected Bundesliga home games. There's also a district shirt for each action day. The Schlebusch shirt is now available HERE.
You can find more information about the district matchdays HERE.
Plenty going on both on and off the pitch: The Bayer 04 fan support team has organised a number of highlights for fans visiting the Werkself 2026/27 summer training camp in Blankenhain, in the Weimarer Land region. Registration for the events is now open. All the details at a glance.
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The Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women’s team and s2-Software are continuing their long-term partnership: The Werkself and the provider of pre-owned Microsoft licences have extended their contract by two years to 2028. This means s2-Software will remain the Bayer 04 sleeve sponsor for all matches in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga.
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BIOGENA is the new performance partner for the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women’s team. Under a partnership initially set to run for three years, the club and the leading Austrian micronutrient company are pooling their expertise in the areas of health, fitness and top-level performance.
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100 children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy had the chance to gain exclusive insights: As part of the summer camp, the young footballers headed inside the BayArena at midday on Tuesday, 21 July, where they were due to meet Werkself keepers Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch in the press conference room. The two players took plenty of time to answer every question from the inquisitive audience – whether it was about their own careers or their first impressions of the new head coach. Finally, there was even time left to sign autographs for the young fans.
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Following the cancellation of Bayer 04’s scheduled friendly against Carl Zeiss Jena on 1 August, the Werkself have now found a new opponent for the same day and will host Rot-Weiss Essen of the 3. Liga at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Kick-off is at 11:00 CEST and tickets are available now.
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