Fans will experience major challenges due to the comprehensive construction work on the new Leverkusen Rhine bridge. The A1 Autobahn is completely closed between the Köln-Nord and Leverkusen motorway interchange as is the A59 from the Monheim-Süd interchange. Further information is available HERE. There could also be disruption for users of public transport: Nationwide, regional and local travel on the Deutsche Bahn has been severely disrupted for several days across the country. Strikes announced by the German train drivers union (Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer - GDL) will run up to and including Monday 29 January.
Today 27 January is the anniversary of the liberation of the survivors from the German concentration camp Auschwitz in 1945. The German Football League (DFL) and the clubs from the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 take this opportunity for the 20th time as part of the annual Memorial Day in German football to remember the victims of national socialism and their families just before kick-off with loud applause – the message is: Never again is now!
The home game is also taking place during the annual challenge of Veganuary, which encourages people to try a plant-based diet in January. The kiosks at the BayArena will today offer an increased range of vegan and vegetarian food as, of course, is the case for the Veggie Corner introduced this year. Ahead of the game, children and teenagers can take part in a cooking challenge for a healthy diet and the winners will escort the Werkself onto the pitch this evening.
The next district matchday: In recent days and weeks the residents of the Leverkusen district of Bergisch Neukirchen have enjoyed numerous events by and with the Werkself. That included the Bayer 04 players Niklas Lomb and Synne Skinnes Hansen along with Werkself goalkeeping coach David Thiel visiting the GGS Bergisch Neukirchen school (to the article).
Anyone wanting to get in the mood for the evening game against the Foals along with other Bayer 04 Fans can make their way to the BayArena this afternoon: The Schwadbud is open from 15.30 CET and they will show the Bundesliga Conference live. That includes RB Leipzig at VfB Stuttgart and Bayern Munich away to FC Augsburg.
Bayer 04 is asking for beer mug donations at this home game: From today the funds raised in the coming weeks will be donated to the Fanprojekt Leverkusen e.V. Friends association. Each beer mug donated raises two euros. A deposit container is available by the exits on the lower tier and in the North Stand opposite Blocks SD3/D3.
Of the current Bundesliga clubs, Borussia Mönchengladbach are the team Bayer 04 have played most often. There have been 106 meetings between the two clubs with the record slightly in favour of the Foals: 44 wins, 32 draws, 30 defeats. But the Werkself have fared well recently: The last eight games in the Bundesliga against Borussia produced seven wins and one draw. The latest information on today's opponents from the Lower Rhine is in our lowdown on the next opponents.
As ever, key stats and facts on the match are available HERE in the new Werkself Live.
The German Football Association (DFB) has appointed Deniz Aytekin as today's match referee. The 45-year-old has previously been in charge of 37 games involving the Werkself resulting in 16 wins, eight draws and 13 defeats for the Black and Reds. Aytekin's assistants are Christian Dietz and Eduard Beitinger and the VAR official is Pascal Müller.
And finally an important appeal: As it is important to nail our colours to the mast at this moment, Bayer 04 is supporting the call from ‘Bündnisses gegen Rechts’ (Coalition against the right) to take part in the 'Demo gegen Hass und Hetze' (Demonstration against hatred and baiting) in Leverkusen-Wiesdorf. This is taking place on Monday 29 January on the town hall square at 19.00 CET. Bayer 04 stands for diversity and tolerance. Intercultural cooperation is firmly established at the club. We clearly distance ourselves from all forms of racism, exclusion and right wing extremism.
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Two keepers, lots of questions: Werkself captain Lukas Hradecky and U19 goalkeeper Jesper Schlich visited the BarmeniaGothaer children’s press conference in partnership with the Bayer 04 Lions Club on Wednesday afternoon. The duo faced interesting and at times unusual questions from around 50 inquisitive young journalists in the press conference room at the BayArena.
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A large number of sporting directors and officials from big clubs across Europe came to the BayArena on Tuesday for the second seminar in the UEFA Sporting Director Programme (SDP) in cooperation with the ECA.
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Full-back Janou Levels will leave Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the end of the season. The 24-year-old has activated her release clause and she will join Bundesliga rivals VfL Wolfsburg. She has signed a three-year contract.
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After returning from Hamburg and a day off on Easter Monday, the Werkself players were back on the training ground at the BayArena on Tuesday morning. Following the session, Amine Adli was very positive in a media interview about the remaining four matches including the forthcoming home game against FC Augsburg (Saturday, 26 April, 15:30 CEST): "We will give our all to end the season as well as we can!"
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