Perhaps one or two may have noticed when driving by. After the BayArena, the town hall, the Bayer Erholunghaus and Schloss Morsbroich started flying the flag for Bayer 04 this week, another Leverkusen landmark is adorned in club colours. This afternoon, a huge black and red banner was lowered down the water tower – as support and motivation for Saturday's game.
There was a unique opportunity for the employees of the Bayer 04 main sponsor: Honorary captain Ulf Kirsten grabbed the DFB Cup of 93 and set off by car in the direction of the Barmenia HQ in Wuppertal. There he gave the members of staff the chance to have a photo taken with the cup. To be precise, the trophy was a lifelike replica. The real trophy is handed to the winners of the tournament each year. The burnished trophy is made of sterling silver and weighs over six kilogrammes and has a material value of €35,000 – the actual value is much higher.
What were current Werkself players doing on 12 June 1993? We asked Karim Bellarabi Kevin Volland and other teammates – about whether they could actually remember anything of that historic night when they were children or had just been born. The answers can be seen on the '19:04 – Die Show', broadcast at 19.04 CET on YouTube and Facebook. This addition will also feature one of our cup winners of 1993 – this time it's Heiko Herrlich. Furthermore, in part three of the 'Road to #B04RLIN, we look back at the Round of 16 tie against VfB Stuttgart, go over to the water tower in Leverkusen and show photos from our fans from previous cup finals there are a few gems amongst them!
He has already grabbed the record as the youngest ever Bundesliga goalscorer this season – if he plays in the DFB Cup final, Florian Wirtz, at the age of 17, two months and one day, would also be the youngest player ever to appear in the DFB Cup final. The current record holder is Julian Draxler (17 years, eight months, one day) who was the youngest player to date in this competition when he played in the 2011 final for Schalke 04. Wirtz' U17 national coach Christian Wück places great store on the Bayer 04 youngster as he revealed on dfb.de: "Here at the DFB, we've told him he's on the right path to become a regular first choice in the Bundesliga or even later on play for the U21s or the national team but that is logically a bit further down the road."
In this hectic cup week, this date definitely not be forgotten: Today (1 July) is the 116th birthday of Bayer 04. It all started with a letter when two members of staff Wilhelm Hausschild and August Kuhlmann asked for support to set up a works gymnastics club in February 1903. On 1 July 1904, the ‘Turn- und Spielverein der Farbenfabriken vorm. Friedrich Bayer & Co. in Leverkusen’, TuS 04 for short, was born. Here's to many more black and red years!
"The players of Bayer 04 and FC Bayern München will not appear in public before or after the game to celebrate with fans or sign autographs," announced the German Football Association (DFB) on its website and appealed to the fans: "We therefore advise and ask all fans not to travel to Berlin." The DFB also urgently advises against gathering in and around the Olympic Stadium and also asked fans to avoid meeting at kiosks, pubs and restaurants in the immediate area of the stadium. Bayer 04 and the City of Leverkusen have already decided there will be no celebrations in Leverkusen due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
Show more
It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
Show more
“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
Show more
Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
Show more
Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
Show more
