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‘Love that lasts a lifetime’: German club Leverkusen offer fans free tattoos

Bayer Leverkusen will offer supporters free club tattoos until the end of the season to celebrate their Bundesliga breakthrough, the German champions announced Friday.

Published: 10 May 2024 16:25 CEST
Leverkusen's Robert Andrich cheers after a game against West Ham United. Leverkusen is offering fans free tattoos after winning the German football championship.
Leverkusen's Robert Andrich cheers after a game against West Ham United. Leverkusen is offering fans free tattoos after winning the German football championship. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/AP | Kin Cheung

Under the banner “love that lasts a lifetime”, Leverkusen announced the “special promotion for the end of a special season”.

Fans can book appointments to get inked at Leverkusen’s BayArena, the club’s home stadium, until the end of the season.

Unbeaten in 49 games since the start of the campaign, manager Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen won their first German top-flight title in April and are on course for a treble, having qualified for the German Cup and Europa League finals.

READ ALSO: Bayer Leverkusen win first Bundesliga title, ending Bayern Munich’s 11 year run

Fans can choose from one of 10 designs which include the club’s logo, a fist-bump above the year 1904 when the club was founded, or April 14th 2024 – the date the club finally broke through for their debut title.

A version of the Bayer cross, the logo of the Leverkusen-based pharmaceuticals company which is the club’s major benefactor, is also one of the designs.

The club announced that any fans who are unable to get an appointment at the stadium will receive a ‘19.04 percent’ rebate on the cost of tattoos from a local studio – a reference to the year the club was founded.

The club’s statement included a picture of tattooed midfielder Robert Andrich, who in April told tabloid Bild he would get a ‘Bundesliga champions’ tattoo from former Union Berlin teammate Christopher Trimmel’s studio should Leverkusen win the title.

Leverkusen, who had only won two major trophies in the club’s 120-year history before this season, will face second-division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final and Serie A side Atalanta in the Europa League final in a three-day period in late May.

Leverkusen’s 49-game unbeaten run beat a 59-year old European record set by Portuguese club Benfica from 1963 to 1965.

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EURO 2024

How you can watch the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany

Germany is getting ready to host the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament from June 14th until July 14th. Here's how you can watch the games.

Published: 10 June 2024 16:16 CEST
How you can watch the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany

In person

If you’re lucky enough to have snagged a ticket or two, then you will be heading to the games to watch them live. (And if you haven’t got a ticket, check the UEFA site to see if there are any left). 

Keep in mind that border checks have been stepped up until July 19th, meaning you could face longer waiting times when coming into Germany. You should also travel with valid ID and have any travel documents needed, like a visa or residence permit. 

In Germany, make sure you plan plenty of time to get to the venues because transport will be packed. 

One benefit for Euro ticket holders is that an agreement has been struck to provide a 36-hour travel pass (36-Stunden-Fahrkarte) for fans with match tickets.

It means that every match ticket holder will be entitled to a 36-hour travel card to use on local public transport in and around the 10 host cities at no extra cost from 6 am on the relevant match day until 6 pm the following day. 

READ ALSO:

Albaert, mascot of the UEFA Euro 2024 European Football Championship, poses next to an ICE high speed train named "Fan-Hauptstadt Hamburg" in April 2024.

Albaert, mascot of the UEFA Euro 2024 European Football Championship, poses next to an ICE high speed train named “Fan-Hauptstadt Hamburg” in April 2024. Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Fan zones and other public viewings  

A number of fan zones are popping up across Germany so that supporters can gather and watch the games. For example, in Cologne there’s a free fan zone area at the Heumarkt open from 2-10pm during the tournament or even longer on match days. 

In Munich, there’s a fan zone at Olympic Park where all 51 games will be shown live, which is also free to enter. 

There are also several other fan zones, including at Schlossplatz in Stuttgart and one near Berlin’s landmark Brandenburg Gate. 

More information on the fan zones across Germany can be found here. 

Meanwhile, plenty of bars, beer gardens, restaurants and other community venues will be showing the matches. 

Watching the games at home

If you’re planning to stay home and watch the games live on TV or with an online streaming service, there are a few options.

Telekom, which holds the broadcasting rights for the 2024 championship, has entered into a cooperation with the free TV broadcaster RTL.

The tournament will be broadcast on a total of four channels: Firstly on MagentaTV, Telekom’s paid streaming service, and secondly on the ARD, ZDF and RTL channels.

Which Euro 2024 games are being shown on public broadcasters ARD and ZDF?

Germany’s public broadcasters ARD and ZDF will show 34 of the 51 games live. This includes all of the German national team’s games, the semi-finals and the final.

ZDF will show the opening game between Germany and Scotland on June 14th in Munich at 9pm. The following two German games  – on June 19th (6pm) in Stuttgart against Hungary, and on June 23rd (9pm) in Frankfurt against Switzerland  – will be shown on ARD.

If Germany qualifies for the knockout round, ZDF will broadcast the round of 16 and a possible semi-final. ARD will be involved in a German quarter-final and will also broadcast the final on July 14th in Berlin live.

Which Euro 2024 games will be shown on MagentaTV?

Telekom will show all 51 EM games via its paid streaming provider MagentaTV. Five games will be shown exclusively on this channel, including these three games as well as some of the later unconfirmed matches:

Hungary – Switzerland, Saturday, June 15th (Cologne, 15:00)

Slovenia – Serbia, Thursday, June 20th Munich, 15:00)

Scotland – Hungary, Sunday, June 23rd (Frankfurt, 21:00)

Telekom is also the national sponsor of the tournament and will operate a TV studio together with RTL during the tournament.

Which games are being shown on RTL?

In addition to the 34 games on ARD and ZDF and the five exclusive MagentaTV matches, RTL will broadcast the remaining 12 games of the 2024 European Championship live. These will include both group and knockout games.

As part of its cooperation with Telekom, the broadcaster has been given the rights to all highlight summaries of the games. According to RTL, these will be published on television and online. A total of six group matches will be shown on RTL.

Here’s a full rundown of the schedule so far, as well as what time and which city they are taking place.

GROUP STAGE

June 14th

Group A: Germany vs Scotland (Munich, 21:00)

June 15th
A: Hungary vs Switzerland (Cologne, 15:00)
B: Spain vs Croatia (Berlin, 18:00), 
B: Italy vs Albania (Dortmund, 21:00)

June 16th
D: Poland vs Netherlands (Hamburg, 15:00)
C: Slovenia vs Denmark (Stuttgart, 18:00)
C: Serbia vs England (Gelsenkirchen, 21:00)

June 17th
E: Romania vs Ukraine (Munich, 15:00)
E: Belgium vs Slovakia (Frankfurt, 18:00)
D: Austria vs France (Düsseldorf, 21:00)

June 18th
F: Türkiye vs Georgia (Dortmund, 18:00)
F: Portugal vs Czechia (Leipzig, 21:00)

June 19th
B: Croatia vs Albania (Hamburg, 15:00)
A: Germany vs Hungary (Stuttgart, 18:00)
A: Scotland vs Switzerland (Cologne, 21:00)

June 20th
C: Slovenia vs Serbia (Munich, 15:00)
C: Denmark vs England (Frankfurt, 18:00)
B: Spain vs Italy (Gelsenkirchen, 21:00)

June 21st
E: Slovakia vs Ukraine (Düsseldorf, 15:00)
D: Poland vs Austria (Berlin, 18:00)
D: Netherlands vs France (Leipzig, 21:00)

June 22nd
F: Georgia vs Czechia (Hamburg, 15:00)
F: Türkiye vs Portugal (Dortmund, 18:00)
E: Belgium vs Romania (Cologne, 21:00)

June 23rd
A: Switzerland vs Germany (Frankfurt, 21:00)
A: Scotland vs Hungary (Stuttgart, 21:00)

June 24th
B: Croatia vs Italy (Leipzig, 21:00)
B: Albania vs Spain (Düsseldorf, 21:00)

June 25th
D: Netherlands vs Austria (Berlin, 18:00)
D: France vs Poland (Dortmund, 18:00)
C: England vs Slovenia (Cologne, 21:00)
C: Denmark vs Serbia (Munich, 21:00)

June 26th
E: Slovakia vs Romania (Frankfurt, 18:00)
E: Ukraine vs Belgium (Stuttgart, 18:00)
F: Czechia vs Türkiye (Hamburg, 21:00)
F: Georgia vs Portugal (Gelsenkirchen, 21:00)

Rest days on  June 27th and 28th

ROUND OF 16

June 29th
Match to be confirmed (Berlin, 18:00)
TBC (Dortmund, 21:00)

June 30th
TBC (Gelsenkirchen), 18:00)
TBC (Cologne, 21:00)

July 1st
TBC (Düsseldorf, 18:00)
TBC (Frankfurt, 21:00)

July 2nd
TBC (Munich, 18:00)
TBC (Leipzig), 21:00)

Rest days on July 3rd and 4th

QUARTER FINALS

July 5th
TBC (Stuttgart, 18:00)
TBC (Hamburg, 21:00)

July 6th
TBC (Düsseldorf, 18:00)
TBC (Berlin, 21:00)

Rest days on July 7th and 8th

SEMI-FINALS

July 9th
TBC (Munich, 21:00)

July 10th
TBC (Dortmund, 21:00)

Rest days on July 11th, 12th and 13th

FINAL 

July 14th
TBC (Berlin, 21:00)

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