The competition in Europe's most respected tournament for veterans teams will know what to expect: The Bayer 04 Vets have taken part in this big indoor event in the capital seven times to date and four times they have brought the title back to the Rhineland; 2011, 2012, 2013 and, most recently, in January 2019. The eleventh tournament in 2020 is being held under the slogan "Experience football legends live!" Bayer 04 are in Group A with the two western rivals Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 plus Dinamo Tbilisi from Georgia and Group B is made up of the three Berlin clubs Hertha, FC Union and Tennis Borussia plus Werder Bremen. "We've done really well in Berlin up to now and hopefully that won't change," said Dirk Dreher, manager of the veterans team.
The Bayer 04 Vets played outdoors last week. In the Klosterpforten Cup in Marienfeld, an established competition on small pitches, the Werkself 'Oldies' made a very impressive start but unfortunately had to bow out in the quarter-finals thanks to a 1-0 defeat against a company team, Melos. "We created enough chances for two matches but kept on being frustrated by their outstanding goalkeeper. And then the opposition scored the winner from their one chance," said Dreher. In the group matches, Bayer 04 clocked up three convincing 3-0 victories against Steinel (goals from Erdal Celik, Ioannis Masmanidis and Hüzeyfe Dogan), Bethel (Dogan, Masmanidis, Assimiou Touré) and Schüco (Celik, Masmanidis, David Müller). The Round of 16 brought a 2-0 win against Hagedorn (Masmanidis, Marcel Podszus).
The second friendly and the first goal for the Bayer 04 Women: The Werkself just missed out on their first win in the preseason away to top-flight Dutch side PEC Zwolle. The team led by coach Roberto Pätzold drew 1-1 on Friday afternoon in Wezep. As with the friendly against TSG Hoffenheim (0-2) a number of first-team players were absent. The coach once again shared out time on the pitch for the 20-player squad. The goal of the match was scored by summer signing Vanessa Fudalla (67').
Show moreContinuity under the Cross: After the successful season in 2024/25 with reaching the final of the VBL Club Championship, the two Leverkusen e-sports players Marc and Sean Landwehr have extended their contracts at Bayer 04 by an additional two years. Marc is thereby in his sixth year and Sean in his third year with the Werkself. Together with e-talent Marcus Hüttemann, who has also extended his stay at Bayer 04 Bayer year, completes the current squad for the 2025/26 season.
Show moreAn average of over 3,500 fans supported the Werkself at away games last season. Looking forward to the 2025/26 season, Bayer 04 now provide information on ticket sales for away games. The previous 0 sales phase is being replaced by the Regulars phase.
Show moreThe German Football League (DFL) has confirmed the details for the first five matchdays in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. Read on for details of the fixtures.
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