
The cheque was presented ahead of the game against the team from Sinsheim on the touchline by Matthias Adler, head of fans and sustainability at Bayer 04, to Dr Joachim G. Eichhorn, clinic director for children and teenagers, who accepted the cheque on behalf of the Klinikum hospital. Adler: "We are really happy to be able to join with our fans in making a contribution to support the valuable work at the children's palliative care unit in Leverkusen. We traditionally have a close connection to the Klinikum in Leverkusen."
The total amount of the donation is made up from different events: a prize competition set up at the Black and Reds in December as part of the festival of friends where fans could buy tickets to win a match worn shirt of Werkself player Patrik Schick. The winner of the shirt was also at the game on Sunday and she happily received her prize during the cheque presentation. All money raised goes to the children's palliative care unit.

In addition, Werkself trading cards were auctioned on the matchwornshirt.com platform. Other donations came from the tombola at the fan club party at the DFB Pokal final in Berlin, the Silver Lions Christmas party and from the Spree Löwen Bayer 04 fan club in Berlin. Bayer 04 thank everybody involved for their participation.
The first young patients will receive treatment at the new unit over the course of the coming months. The unit will go into operation when the multi-professional unit team is complete, which the Klinikum is now working on. There is a jobs fair on 15 March for nursing staff and a symposium on 26 March for nursing staff and medical personnel. The children's palliative care unit at the clinic Leverkusen will be financed by funding and donations and therefore welcomes further support at any time:
Donations account
Klinikum Leverkusen gGmbH
IBAN: DE26 3755 1440 0100 1183 30
BIC: WELADEDLLEV
Bank: Sparkasse Leverkusen
Reference: Kinderpalliativstation
Talking about good deeds: The prize competition for a good cause goes into a second round. From now up to and including Friday, 28 February 25, Bayer 04 fans can again purchase a ticket for five euros to be in the draw. Prizes this time are the shirt worn by Werkself player Aleix Garcia in the Champions League game against RB Salzburg (5-0) as well as the shirt worn by midfielder Granit Xhaka in the DFB Pokal tie against Bayern Munich (1-0). The funds raised from the prize competition tickets will be donated again. This time the funds raised will go to the advice centre against sexual violence run by Leverkusen women's aid.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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