
“Florian has far exceeded our great expectations in his first year with the first team,” declared Bayer 04 sporting managing director Rudi Völler. “The confidence he’s shown in the Bundesliga and on the European stage in the Europa League has been impressive. If he carries on working and continues his development in the same way then Florian will definitely have a great career.”
Simon Rolfes watched Wirtz on his way to becoming a professional early on in various youth teams. “Florian’s current’s performances make us feel even more convinced of our assessment that he can become a special player,” said the Leverkusen sporting director. “Flo is already an important part in our team. I’m looking forward to the coming years with him.”
For Florian Wirtz , “my fast integration into an absolute top squad was fantastic motivation. The way the coaching staff and the team accepted me and how the club management looked after me – it was all totally impressive,” admitted the Germany U21 international. “I’m playing in a great team here and I really believe we can win something. We’re on the right track and I can see that in all the training sessions.”


The Bayer 04 women’s team secured a win in the friendly during the international break. Without a total of eight international players, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team defeated Bundesliga 2 side Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 at the Kurtekotten Training Centre, thanks to goals from Lobke Loonen (1’, penalty), Caroline Kehrer (41') and Valentina Mädl (66').
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FSV Mainz 05 went into the international break on the back of an away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Currently sixth in the table, the Rheinhessen side – who have been impressive on the road – now aim to continue their good start to the Bundesliga campaign at home when they face the Werkself on Saturday, 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). In terms of squad selection, Urs Fischer once again has more options at his disposal. Up front, the Mainz coach is likely to continue relying on what is currently the league’s most successful strike partnership. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
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During the first international break of the 2026/27 season, set to last just under three weeks, nine Bayer 04 first-team players are in action with their respective national teams. Read on for updates on matches featuring Werkself players…
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