Some 60 children attending the Bayer 04 Soccer School were in the press conference room at the BayArena on Thursday afternoon eagerly expecting the arrival of Noah Mbamba and Madi Monamay. After a vocal reception, the 6- to 14-year-olds fired off questions to the Belgian duo about how they started football and their motives for moving under the Bayer Cross. "Leverkusen are a good team. We want to achieve a lot here," Monamay told the children.
Mbamba revealed to the children that he met Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Co. in the group match against Paris Saint-Germain in the 2021/22 Champions League campaign and that it was one of the absolute highlights of his career to date. Monamay answered the question of how he wanted to achieve his dream of being a professional footballer: "Through discipline, hard work in training and belief in myself.".
Mbamba and Monamay also answered in response to the classic questions of "Messi or Ronaldo?" and "Who is your favourite player?" Defender Monamay named World Cup and European Championship winner Sergio Ramos with the explanation: "He's a good player of outstanding merit and one of my idols in football."
All the questions were answered by the end of the 30-minute children's press conference. The Leverkusen players finished off by happily fulfilling all autograph and photo requests – and after a good hour they left happy and clearly satisfied children at the Bayer 04 Soccer School.
After being nominated for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025, Martin Terrier's wonderful strike for the opener against FC Köln is now also up for selection for the ARD Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2025. Bayer 04 fans have until 19:00 CET on 10 January to vote for the French forward.
Show more
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
Show more
"In every ending lies a new beginning" is a well-known saying. This phrase has probably never been more apt at Bayer 04. After winning the Bundesliga in 2023/24 and finishing as runners-up in 2024/25, the summer was the most eventful ever in terms of transfers. Over ten players and the coach, including the coaching staff, left the club. A lot of the heroes of the double-winning side began a new chapter. It was the end of an era. And at the same time the beginning of a new, very exciting and promising chapter for Leverkusen. The Werkself welcomed more than a dozen new arrivals, including experienced title-winners and young talents, to build a new "foundation for a successful team capable of winning titles" under the Bayer Cross, as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. A new spirit, a new hunger, a new story was to be created. Bayer04.de looks back at the first few months of this story and the final act of the preseason.
Show more
43 points at the end of the last Bundesliga season were not only more than ever before for the Bayer 04 Women, but also led to a record fourth-place finish. That was followed by a Hinrunde with many more victories, but also some setbacks. In an interview with bayer04.de, sporting director Achim Feifel takes stock at the end of the year.
Show more
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
Show more
