The Werkself players wore the new home shirt for the 2023/24 season with the cross on the chest for the first time in the match at the Spanish Champions League club. A badge marking the charity match on the front of the shirt was another highlight. The shirt auction raised €16,739. The top seller at the auction was the shirt worn by Florian Wirtz with a value of over €4,000.
The money raised will be used to carry out the first clinical study in Europe on the treatment of SPG50. Children from Spain and Germany will take part in this clinical study, which will build on a study previously carried out in the USA. Javier Garcia, president of the Columbus Foundation, said: "The Columbus Foundation thanks Bayer 04 for their great support. This enables us to start the second clinical study at the beginning of next year. The families of the children affected have great hopes in the study for the treatment of this previously incurable disease."
The Fundación Columbus:
The Columbus Children’s Foundation has the mission of raising funds for research into rare diseases and to find treatments for these through gene therapy. The friendly against the Champions League team from La Liga is specifically part of the battle against spastic paraplegia 50 (SPG 50). This rare neuromuscular disease affects a very limited number of children with symptoms including developmental delay, mental incapacity and changes to or absence of speech.
Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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A rematch in Athens: On Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), the Werkself face Greek double winners Olympiacos for the second time this season at the Karaiskakis Stadium. After the encounter in the league phase, it's now time for the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-offs. Ahead of the game, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how his side will approach the clash, while captain Robert Andrich explained how the team will try to dampen the atmosphere in the stadium tomorrow.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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