The annual event took place for the fifteenth time. The first Bayer 04 golfers to start included Fernando Carro, CEO, the two managing directors of TecArenaPlus GmbH Felix Duden and Ulrich Wölfer plus Dr. Karl-Heinrich Dittmar, medical director. And club representative Stefan Kießling plus the Werkself players Jonas Hofmann and Niklas Lomb also joined in. Markus Breglec, chief marketing and innovation officer, joined the event in the evening.
Other participants included several Bayer 04 partners plus former javelin world champion and current head of the Leverkusen sports college Steffi Nerius.
After a relaxed breakfast, the 80 participants made their way onto the course at the Leverkusen Golf Club at 11.30 CEST. They played a round of 18 holes with a shotgun start. The golf continued until late afternoon and was followed by an evening meal together to round off the day.
It was a successful day all round for club representative Stefan Kießling: "We had perfect conditions today: A brilliant course, great weather and top catering. Once again it was a very professionally organised tournament and it was real fun," he said before adding: "I've known a lot of them for fifteen years and the tournament is now an institution that you look forward to each year. And it's also great that so much money has been raised for a good cause at the end of the day."
A total of €17,000 was collected this year in aid of the Deutscher Kinderschutzbund Leverkusen. The donation was made up of the entry fees for participants and was added to by an auction in the evening with a number of partners donating prizes.
Kießling presented a cheque to Ingo Ende, CEO of the Deutscher Kinderschutzbund Leverkusen. Ende said: "As the Kinderschutzbund Leverkusen, we are very grateful to Bayer 04 and all supporters of the tournament today for the generous donation. We will be able to make optimum use of this money in different areas including counselling sessions with children who are in need and suffering mentally and physically. Thanks to your donation we are able to continue helping them.”
Following the international break, the Bayer 04 women’s team face their next head-to-head clash in the race for a top spot in the Bundesliga. In Saturday’s home match (14:00 CEST), the fourth-placed side host third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Head coach Roberto Pätzold is well aware of the great opportunity this presents for his team.
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Bayer 04 make their first trip to Poland for over 30 years as they face Lech Poznan on Matchday 2 of the league phase in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off at 18:45 CEST on Thursday, but the team will be preparing for the action on Wednesday with training, travel and pre-match press conferences. We’ll bring you all the latest news here…
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Bayer 04 remain unbeaten in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. After winning the opener against NK Celje, the Werkself followed that up on Thursday night with a 4–0 win away at the Polish champions Lech Poznan. Patrik Schick, who came on as a substitute early in the game, scored twice from the penalty spot, and Malik Tillman also found the back of the net before half-time. The second half was a more subdued affair, with Ibrahim Maza scoring late on to seal the final 4-0 scoreline.
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Since 2023, Bayer 04 has been organising regular free goalkeeping coach training sessions at the BayArena. As in previous years, the event attracted enormous interest in mid-October 2026. Around 140 participants – mostly goalkeeping coaches from the region, but also team and academy coaches as well as association staff – came to the Werkself stadium to gain expert knowledge on the subject of zonal marking. Through a theoretical keynote presentation and a practical session on the pitch, the participants gained insights into goalkeeping and goalkeeper training at Bayer 04.
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