The Veterans will be in action on 8 January from 18.00 CET in the Matthäi Cup in Frankfurt. In the second year of the indoor tournament started in 2024, the Black and Reds face VfB Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt in Group A. Werder Bremen, Mainz 05 and Kickers Offenbach are in Group B. Within the groups, each team plays each other with the first two teams going through to the semi-finals. The matches will be played at the Süwag Energie Arena in Frankfurt and the tournament will be broadcast live on DF 1.
The Bayer 04 squad in Frankfurt: Dominik Poremba and Daniel Galic (both goalkeepers), Stefan Kießling, Gonzalo Castro, Assimiou Toure, Carsten Baumann, Philipp Wollscheid, Thorsten Judt, Albert Bunjaku, Anel Dzaka, Mario Schwarz, Ioannis Masmanidis, Sascha Jagusch, Giuseppe Spitali and Aziz Bouhaddouz
The Leverkusen Veterans will then play in the Bananenflanker-Budenzauber tournament in Regensburg on 11 January. In South Germany's biggest indoor tournament for veterans teams, Bayer 04 will play FC Nürnberg (tournament winners in 2024), TSV 1860 Munich (runners-up in 2024), SpVgg Greuther Fürth, SSV Jahn Regensburg, SpVgg Unterhaching, the Bananenflanker Legends and the Wintec Autoglas & Balu4Kids Allstars. Bayer 04 honorary captain Lars Bender will be in the Leverkusen Veterans squad for the first time. The tournament will be broadcast HERE as a live stream.
The Bayer 04 squad in Regensburg: Dominik Poremba and Daniel Galic (both goalkeepers), Lars Bender, Jörg Reeb, Mike Rietpietsch, Assimiou Toure, Carsten Baumann, Thorsten Judt, Anel Dzaka, Mario Schwarz, Ioannis Masmanidis, Giuseppe Spitali, Sahin Sezer, Sebastian Hirsch
The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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Bayer 04 Women have boosted their firepower with the signing of Poland international Paulina Tomasiak. The 24-year-old striker moves to Leverkusen from Gornik Leczna in her homeland on a two-year contract.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed France U17 international Kenan Doganay. The 1.90-metre-tall defensive midfielder, who has Turkish roots, joins Leverkusen from the U19s at French top-flight club Olympique Lyon. He will initially train with and play for the U19 team.
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The Sports Tribunal of the German Football Association (DFB) has fined Bayer 04 Leverkusen €185,000 for spectators setting off pyrotechnic devices during a total of five competitive matches. This relates to four Bundesliga matches and the DFB Pokal semi-final against Bayern Munich. The highest individual fine relates to the away match at FC Köln at the end of April.
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