It was a strike that has no equal: 20 minutes into the home clash with Leipzig, Kerem Demirbay shot from 25 yards out and put the ball in the back of the RB net via the underside of the bar. According to the stats from xGoals, which calculates the probability of scoring based on eight criteria, the chance of netting this goal was just 2.23 per cent.
And it is logical that the long-range effort from the Werkself number 10 has been nominated for the September Goal of the Month on the ARD-Sportschau. The 27-year-old has the final digit 2. Votes can be cast for the Leverkusen midfielder via phone (0040 (0)1371/36900 – 2) or online at sportschau.de. The closing date for entries is Saturday, 17 October, 19.00 CEST.
The Day of German Unity on 3 October was a special public holiday in 2020 – as it was the 30th anniversary of reunification. Bayer 04 dedicated a thematic week to this turning point in German-German history. Based on this series at bayer04.de it is clear: The fall of the Berlin Wall was a lucky break for the Werkself. Click HERE to access the articles.
Positive numbers for the Bundesliga: The ARD-Sportschau had 4.44 million viewers on Saturday night (market share: 18.7 per cent) the best numbers since the beginning of March. The highlights of the 1-1 draw for the Werkself at VfB Stuttgart was available in the afternoon.
And the Pay TV broadcaster Sky can also look back at good figures at the weekend. The individual and multi-match coverage from Saturday afternoon reached an average TV audience of 1.71 million fans. The Aktuelle Sportstudio, that was broacast on ZDF on Saturday night at eleven o’clock, had 1.86 million viewers (market share: 12.3 per cent).
A great day for ‘Pala’: The Argentinian Bayer 04 player Exequiel Palacios celebrates his 22nd birthday on his day off on Monday. The midfielder signed for Leverkusen from River Plate at the start of January this year. Since then, the Copa Libertadores winner of 2018 has made eight appearances for the Werkself.
And the former Leverkusen player Robbie Kruse is also a year older on this Monday. The 32-year-old, with the Werkself from 2013 to 2015 and from the start of 2016 to the start of 2017, is now playing football back home in Australia – since the summer of last year for Melbourne Victory. Bayer 04 wish both: Happy Birthday!
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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