
"It was a great event with 32 teams and we went close to lifting the cup," said Dreher after an exciting final. The final game in the tournament ended in a 2-2 draw with the Borussia Dortmund team scoring the opener on 20 seconds and levelling the scores with 20 seconds to play. That bookmarked Bayer 04 goals scored by Marcel Podszus and David Müller. The left-footed Müller also made his debut in the Bayer 04 Veterans team as did Tim Jerat. Dortmund then won 3-1 in the penalty shoot-out.
The group matches saw Bayer 04 clock up two wins (2-0 against Marador Füchse with goals from Müller and Ioannis Masmanidis, 3-2 against Dieter Hein with strikes from Podszus (2 ) and Hüzeyfe Dogan) plus a 0-0 draw with Team Baxter. The knock-out rounds brought victories against Rot-Weiss Essen in the Round of 16 (2-0/Jerat and Dogan), VDV-Vereinigung in the last eight (2-0/double from Masmanidis) plus Sonepar in the semis. Podszus and Masmanidis found the back of the net a 2-2 draw and the shoot-out ended in a 3-2.
The Veterans next game is on Saturday in Leverkusen. The sports ground on Tannenbergstraße hosts a match against a Bayer 04 fans eleven. The kick-off is at 14.15 CET.

Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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