After the 16-year-old Iker Bravo made his first senior appearance in the DFB Cup game against Karlsruher SC (1-2), the young Spanish striker made his Bundesliga debut on Sunday, 7 November in the match at Hertha Berlin (1-1). Bravo was, for a few minutes, the youngest Bundesliga player in the history of Bayer 04 – until Zidan Sertdemir came on from the bench. Now comes the next highlight for the top talent who joined Leverkusen from Barcelona in the summer: His goal from an overhead kick in the U19 match against Fortuna Düsseldorf has been nominated for the October Goal of the Month on the ARD Sportschau.
The Spaniard scored his first two goals for Bayer 04 in that match at the end of October. And his second goal on 75 minutes was a real beauty: With the score at 1-1, he did an overhead kick to put the ball in the back of the net and turn the game round in favour of the Black and Reds (final score 3-1). You can see his remarkable feat again HERE. Bayer 04 fans can vote for Bravo's outstanding strike now online at sportschau.de or by calling 01371/36900 (€0.14 /call from German landline).
Also nominated are Breel Embolo (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Katharina Naschenweng (TSG Hoffenheim), David Blacha (SV Meppen) and Sebastian Klaas (VfL Osnabrück). The vote closes on 27 November at 19.00 CET.
Another important step in the professionalisation of women's football: The streaming platform ata football has acquired the rights for the current and coming 2022/23 season to show a large number of games from the FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga.
Selected matches from the FFBL will be shown in their entirety on atafootball.com and on nbcsport.com. Matches will also be shown in full after games have ended and there will also be highlights.
Prick up your ears: Radio Leverkusen will report on the Werkself charity match against a City of Leverkusen team in their morning show tomorrow (Tuesday) morning from 6 a.m. that will include an interview with Bayer 04 honorary captain Stefan Kießling and a Werkself fan who was involved in the clear-up work in Leverkusen and surroundings following the terrible floods in July.
The Bayer 04 first team are playing at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Wednesday, 10 November from 18.30 CET to provide support for the victims of the flood disaster. All profits from the event will go to the Leverkusen Community Foundation. Tickets are available at the Bayer 04 online shop for five euros.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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