
On Tuesday afternoon, a group of 20 children, including Bayer 04 mascot Brian the Lion, made their way to the press conference room at the BayArena. They were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the two Germany internationals Robert Andrich and Jonas Hofmann. Then the door opened and the Bayer 04 players were greeted with loud applause.
A barrage of questions followed introductions. There was a big surprise at the beginning with the question on Hoffmann's passion of building Lego. The cheerful offensive player responded: "My favourite range is Star Wars, yesterday I finished building the Imperial Star Destroyer."
Andrich explained his hidden talents: "I like to sing and dance." The 29-year-old let the children know he most likes spending his free time with his family and that he takes his child to nursery before training. Andrich also revealed with a smile what he was thinking when he made his assist for the opening goal against Bayern Munich: "I just crossed it without looking."







In addition, the children wanted to know which teammates the two of them got on best with. Andrich: "We all get on really well in the team. Of course, it’s easier for us to get on with the ones who speak the same language. It's usually like that."
Hofmann revealed his first Bundesliga goal is his favourite and he rates teammate Andrich's "sometimes mad clothes and hair." Hofmann added with a wink, "Rob is sometimes really funny." In response to the question whether both players have a nutritionist, the 31-year-old Hofmann replied: "A healthy diet is very important as an athlete and we have a nutritionist here at the club. When you win a game you sometimes obviously drink and eat something that's perhaps a little less healthy." (laughs)






After the questions, the two players took time out for a group photograph and numerous requests for autographs. Then it was down to football with some of the children showing Andrich and Hoffman tricks, which the duo then copied. The Werkself players left to happy faces all round.

A week after the disappointing DFB Pokal exit at Hamburger SV, the Bayer 04 Women return to league action. In a home match against SGS Essen on Saturday, 22 November (kick-off: 14:00 CET at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium), coach Roberto Pätzold's team will be fighting to maintain a good position in the chasing pack in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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Tickets are on sale for the last two Bayer 04 Women's team home games in 2025. Fans can now purchase tickets for the matches at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against RB Leipzig and the final fixture of the year in the Rückrunde opener against German champions Bayern Munich. The latest information at a glance.
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Several Bayer 04 players are currently away with their respective national teams in the final international break of 2025, with most of them involved in qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Our blog will keep you up to date on the matches involving the Werkself.
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The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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