The line-up is not only unusual but also reads like a Who's Who from the recent Werkself past. Bernd Schneider, Oliver Neuville, Simon Rolfes, Markus Happe, Boris Zivkovic and Marko Babic – honorary captains, Champions League finalists, crowd favourites, famous names in the history of the Black and Reds. They will all be wearing Bayer 04 shirts again on 2 December for the veterans game against Borussia Dortmund. As with the last match against FC Köln ahead of the Bundesliga derby, this meeting with Dortmund, kicking off at 13.30 CET at the Haberland Stadium, will be broadcast live on Facebook.
"We have an especially illustrious line-up for the game against BVB," said Dirk Dreher, general manager of the Veterans team, "It's incredible if you count up all the international caps the lads collected during their professional careers." And Dortmund are also likely to appear with a number of familiar faces – in the last fixture between the two teams a year ago their eleven included Frank Mill, David Odonkor and Knut Reinhardt – , so a visit to the Haberland Stadium will definitely serve to whet the appetite ahead of the Bundesliga clash against Borussia Dortmund (kick-off, 15.30 CET). Bayer 04 and Borussia will play a 60-minute game before watching the pros match at the BayArena.
Friday in Maastricht
The game against the black and yellows of Borussia will be the final match of the year and this Friday sees the final away trip in 2017 for the Leverkusen Old Boys with a visit to Holland. The veterans are in action in against their opposite numbers at Maastricht at 17.30 CET. The game has been organised by former Bayer 04 striker Erik Meijer who is the attacking coach at Maastricht. Afterwards the first team have a Jupiler League fixture against Helmond Sport in the second tier of Dutch football.
Ten years after retiring as a player, Kristina Sundov is returning to the Bayer 04 Women’s team as assistant coach. The 39-year-old former Croatia international takes over from Remzi Kahraman, who has taken up a new challenge abroad. She has been given a contract to 30 June 2028.
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The training pitches at the BayArena are already buzzing with activity again, even before training officially begins next week. On Monday morning, a small group from the Werkself first-team squad completed a session lasting around an hour. Both new and familiar faces were present.
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One ticket, two matches – and a varied programme of events, including appearances by players from the professional teams: Bayer 04 has come up with something very special for the 2026 season launch on Saturday, 8 August. From morning right through to the evening, Werkself fans can use just one ticket to not only enjoy top-class football from the Bayer 04 teams live, but also to experience unforgettable moments with the whole family through a variety of hands-on activities around the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The day will also end on a real high note: after both matches, Bayer 04 supporters will have the opportunity to interact directly with the players during joint activities and get to know them from a different angle.
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Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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