FC Sevilla will be the first real test for Bayer 04 and its new coach during the upcoming summer preseason. The Spanish side will visit Leverkusen for the season opener. Before that, the Bundesliga club has a training camp on the schedule—though fans will only be allowed to watch their stars on one day.
It hasn’t been definitively decided yet who will be the new coach at Bayer 04. But it is now clear who Kasper Hjulmand’s successor will face in his first real test with the Werkself: FC Sevilla will visit the BayArena on August 8 for the official season opener of the 2024 double winners. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m.
The match against the seven-time UEFA Cup and Europa League winner will take place immediately following the training camp in Blankenhain, Thuringia. There, Bayer 04 will prepare for the upcoming season from August 1 to 7.
Just one day for fans at training camp
At the “Spa & Golfresort Weimarer Land,” where the German national team completed part of its preparations ahead of the 2024 European Championship on home soil, Bayer 04 will, however, only be presenting itself as a club open to the public for one day. Thus, training will be open to fans on-site only on Monday, August 3.
This news comes as a blow to many Bayer 04 supporters. After all, the most loyal of the loyal fans had already booked a stay during the training camp in Thuringia after the location and dates were announced in January.
In 2024, up to 800 fans attended the sessions in Donaueschingen
In the summer of 2024, up to 800 spectators watched Bayer 04’s sessions at the training camp in Donaueschingen on the grounds of SV Aasen 1928, as the newly crowned double winners—featuring top stars like Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka, and Jeremie Frimpong, as well as successful coach Xabi Alonso, who patiently fulfilled all autograph requests, drew the crowds.
However, a similar rush is generally not expected in August. In 2023, there were perhaps only 100 spectators on site for the training sessions in Saalfelden, Austria. In 2025, Bayer 04 had moved its summer training camp to Rio de Janeiro.
Friendly matches against Baumberg, Offenbach, and Jena
Before the training camp, the team that finished sixth in the Bundesliga last season has three more friendly matches on the schedule. The first is against Oberliga side Sportfreunde Baumberg on July 18 (kickoff at 3:30 p.m.) in neighboring Monheim. This will be followed by two matches against teams from the Regionalliga: first against Kickers Offenbach, representing the Southwest, on July 25 (kickoff: 3:00 p.m.), then against Carl-Zeiss Jena, who finished second in the Regionalliga Northeast, on August 1 (kickoff: 6:00 p.m.).
