
The 6- to 14-year-olds took their places on the edge of the pitch at the BayArena wide-eyed and full of questions. There was great excitement when Karim Bellarabi opened the door to the inside of the stadium. The popularity of the career of the offensive player amongst the youngsters was clear from one of the first questions: "Bellarabi, how do you become a football player?"
In addition, the Leverkusen crowd favourite revealed that his current squad number 38 was the same in his professional debut for Eintracht Braunschweig and that he scored his first Bundesliga goal for the Black and Reds in a home game against Bayern Munich. Another very special moment was the sound of the Champions League anthem before the start of matches in Europe’s premier club competition.





After the thirst for knowledge of the young players had been sated and autographs made on shirts, boots and drinking bottles, Bellarabi signed off with a group selfie with the enthusiastic children and teenagers at the Bayer 04 soccer school.

The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...

Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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Bayer 04 is redesigning the public catering at the BayArena and Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion for the start of the 2026/27 season. Together with new catering partner Aramark, processes will be developed and the service at the stadium will be improved in a targeted way.
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The German Football Association (DFB) has officially recognised Bayer 04 as a centre for the development of female talent for the 2026/27 season. The club was awarded that role on 1 January 2026, and this status has now been renewed.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have sold young defender Andrea Natali to AZ Alkmaar on permanent terms. The 18-year-old Italian was on loan at the Dutch club last season, where he mainly played for the reserve team in the second division.
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