They are definitely two of the key players in the team under head coach Gerardo Seoane this season: Playmaker Florian Wirtz and central defender Odilon Kossounou, who joined Leverkusen from FC Brugge in the summer of 2021.
The ability to win the ball, positional play, ball control, build-up play – the Ivory Coast international has quickly impressed at the age of just 21. His performance at the top Belgian club from Bruges plus those in a Bayer 04 shirt have earned Kossounou a place in the list of the last 40 players for the Golden Boy 2021. And he is not alone from a Black and Red perspective.
The second Werkself player in this illustrious selection is Florian Wirtz who is three years younger than his teammate and is currently causing a stir in the Bundesliga. After five matchdays, the 18-year-old has already scored three goals and provided four assists. The youngest full international in the history of Bayer 04 has more than deserved his place on the shortlist. There will be a further reduction in the list of nominations in the middle of October.
There is also good news in terms of statistics: The Werkself have made their best start to the season since 2013/14 and are the most efficient team in the Bundesliga after five matchdays. The outstanding finishing of Patrik Schick and Co. is most clearly evident looking at the xGoals, they are the goals to be expected based on the number of shots at goal and their quality. According to the xGoal calculation, the Werkself should have scored eight goals to date – but there have already been 15. No other Bundesliga side has a higher efficiency.
Two attacking players are mainly responsible for this top value: Florian Wirtz and Moussa Diaby. Wirtz has scored three goals to date, his xGoal value is however 0.7. Diaby has also scored three times and has a rating of 0.8. With the exception of Dortmund's Erling Haaland, no other Bundesliga players are more efficient.
Moussa Diaby (22), Odilon Kossounou (21), Florian Wirtz (18): They are all in the early stages of their careers. The three are however not the only ones in the Werkself squad that this statement applies to. The kicker sports paper has calculated from the first five matchdays that Bayer 04 have the second youngest team in the Bundesliga so far this term. With an average age of 24.9 years, the Werkself are just behind VfB Stuttgart (24.8)..
It's full steam ahead with preparations at the Fan House: The second fan jumble sale at the BayArena is round the corner. On Saturday, 9 October, it will be possible to acquire a wide range of Bayer 04 merchandise from ten in the morning until three in the afternoon. The special element: All proceeds go to the Leverkusen community foundation. The first gems can be checked out on the Bayer 04 fan info Facebook page.
"There will be items where you can place an offer at a certain point in time and then hope your bid is accepted," explained Sebastian Friedrich from the Bayer 04 fan liaison team. Access to the jumble sale is only possible via the North West entrance to the BayArena by the flyover.
Jan-Inge Callsen-Bracker wore the Bayer 04 shirt for ten years and the Schleswig-Holstein-born player with the unusual name made his first team debut in Leverkusen in 2003. He ended his playing career 16 years later at FC Augsburg and then took up a position on the FCA supervisory board. Callsen-Bracker is now the director of development at the German Football Association (DFB) and the former Leverkusen player today celebrates his 37th birthday – many happy returns.
Manfred Kastl also used to play for the Werkself (1988/89) and his birthday is on 23 September too. He is 56 years old. Happy birthday.
Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
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It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
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Under Carles Martínez, the Werkself have so far proved unbeatable at the BayArena. The Spaniard has led his team to victory in all three of their most recent home matches – and, it's worth noting, without conceding a single goal. On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST / live on DAZN and Werkself Radio), current league leaders SC Freiburg will make the trip to Leverkusen, but will be without their top scorer. What's more, the Werkself have won all three of their previous home matches against the Black Forest club. With a goal, Patrik Schick could not only secure a fourth consecutive victory but also set a memorable record. Meanwhile, on what will be the ‘Health Day' at the BayArena, much of the focus will be on physical wellbeing. Today's matchday news.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 7 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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