After his left-foot shot into Manuel Neuer's net, the 22-year-old Jamaican turned to the corner flag and held up his fingers in the shape of a W. The reason behind the celebration is the song with the same name, W by Bailey's fellow compatriot and rapper Mikayla 'Koffee' Simpson. The lyric is about forgetting L for losing and instead choosing W for winning. "I very much like the song and the message behind it. That's why I celebrated like that," explained Bailey.
It's the record goalscorer's birthday. Ulf Kirsten scored 182 goals in 350 games for the Werkself – and that is the club record to date at Bayer 04. The striker played for Leverkusen for 13 years winning the DFB Cup in 1993 and losing the Champions League final against Real Madrid. Kirsten was the top scorer in the Bundesliga in 1992/93 (20 goals), 1996/97 and 1997/98 (22 goals both times). He hung up his boots in 2003 and then coached the Bayer 04 reserves for six years. The 'Schwatte' still plays for the Veterans team. Congratulations, Ulf!
As part of the first DFB leadership trip to the USA, the representatives from the Bundesliga club visited the Facebook HQ in Silicon Valley and the stadium of the San Francisco 49ers. Simon Rolfes, sporting director at Bayer 04: "I welcome the initiative of the DFB. In order to ensure the best possible future for German football, we definitely need to think outside the box." Tomorrow, the delegation – with plenty of new knowledge – will set off back to Germany.
Last weekend, Julian Baumgartlinger was not only able to celebrate victory against Bayern Munich but also his 200th appearance in Germany's top flight. The Austrian has made 76 appearances for Bayer 04. We say: Congratulations, Baumi!
It was one of the crucial incidents in the Bundesliga stunner for the Werkself at FC Bayern (final score: 2-1). A diagonal ball from Serge Gnabry, just before the half-time whistle, left Ivan Perisic with a tap-in into an empty net – however, the Werkself skipper Lars Bender made a last-ditch sliding tackle and was able to clear the danger. Bayer 04 went into the break with a 2-1 lead and the rest is history. His timely intervention has earned Bender a TOPPS NOW card with the title 'The Goal Saver'.
With the 400th addition of the football broadcast 'Zeigler's wonderful world of football' (WDR), a range of contemporaries congratulated presenter Arnd Zeigler with a video message. And the well-wishers also included the lads from the Werkself Radio – and there were also two surprise guests: Freddy Radeke and Jakob Leube, the presenters of 'Wumms! The Sports Show,' were also on the pitch at the BayArena. The latter congratulated Zeigler with a send up of Christian Streich.
The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed France U17 international Kenan Doganay. The 1.90-metre-tall defensive midfielder, who has Turkish roots, joins Leverkusen from the U19s at French top-flight club Olympique Lyon. He will initially train with and play for the U19 team.
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The Sports Tribunal of the German Football Association (DFB) has fined Bayer 04 Leverkusen €185,000 for spectators setting off pyrotechnic devices during a total of five competitive matches. This relates to four Bundesliga matches and the DFB Pokal semi-final against Bayern Munich. The highest individual fine relates to the away match at FC Köln at the end of April.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with U19 goalkeeper Simeon Rapsch. The Germany youth international goalkeeper has signed a long-term contract with the Werkself running to 30 June 2029. The 18-year-old joined Leverkusen from FC Viktoria Köln in the summer of 2024.
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