The Werkself players Niklas Lomb, Arthur, Clara Fröhlich and Charlotte Voll got to grips with rolling pins and cookie cutters together with ten children from the self-help organisation 'Chance! Wuppertal' and ten youngsters from the Löwenclub. First of all, they kneaded big balls of dough, then rolled them out before cutting out tasty Christmas biscuits and decorating them with a sweet glaze and colourful chocolate sprinkles. In the thick of it was mascot Brian the Lion who was greeted with high-fives from the children wearing cyan blue Barmenia aprons.
The four players each shared one or two tips from their own childhood with the young Christmas bakers. "We need more flour," said Voll and Lomb reminded his fellow bakers with a smile that they should not "eat so much raw dough." The players were happy to pose for photos and sign autographs on aprons – as well as answer the many questions from the inquisitive children.
"It's great fun. As a family we always like baking together before Christmas. But it's great here with the kids too and you can see how happy they are," said Lomb and he talked about a "really successful event."
A golden oldie by Rolf Zuckowski provided a suitable atmosphere in the Christmas bakery for young and older bakers alike. In addition to football motifs there was even a Brian the Lion mould – and an exciting challenge: Fröhlich and Arthur competed in tandem with one of the youngsters to see who could cut out more Brian the Lion biscuits and put them on the prepared baking tray in 30 seconds. The winners were the Werkself women's team player and her teammate Henry.
"It was great to be with the children," said Fröhlich: "The music also provided a Christmas atmosphere." She added with a smile: "I still very much like baking biscuits at home and not just at Christmas."
Arthur had a rather different experience. "Baking biscuits was really good but also a bit difficult for me at the start," he admitted: "We never did that when I was a child so it was an unusual challenge for me. I will definitely have a go at it at home soon." Voll, a goalkeeper with the Bayer 04 Women's team, was also happy about the "many exciting questions" from the children and her assessment was: "Being with the children was a great bonus for everybody involved. After the event, I'm gradually getting in the mood for Christmas."
For the second time in four days, Bayer 04 face Borussia Dortmund this Tuesday evening, 2 December (kick-off: 21:00 CET) - this time in the round of 16 of the DFB Pokal, with more than 7,000 fans supporting the Werkself at Signal Iduna Park. After the recent 2-1 defeat to BVB in the league, several cup stats provide hope of revenge for the Black and Reds. There are several reasons why Bayer 04 recommends getting to the round of 16 clash early, in which VAR will be in use, unlike in the previous rounds. Read on for further information on tonight’s game in our matchday news.
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Just three days on from the Bundesliga meeting in Leverkusen, Bayer 04 now visit Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal on Tuesday (21:00 CET). Ahead of the game at the Signal Iduna Park, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how to approach this second encounter in 72 hours and a number of developments within the squad.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 12 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
Bayer 04 were beaten 2-1 at home by Borussia Dortmund on Matchday 12 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. Although the Werkself had more of the play in the first half, the visitors went ahead through Aaron Anselmino. Karim Adeyemi doubled their advantage after the hour, but Christian Kofane gave Leverkusen late hope, although ultimately to no avail.
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There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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