He is the September Bundesliga Player of the Month, is on the short list for the Golden Boy 2021 – and can now also be voted the North Rhine Westphalia Player of the Year for 2021: Werkself youngster Florian Wirtz. In addition to the 18-year-old from Leverkusen, Simon Terodde (FC Schalke 04), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Simon Zoller (VfL Bochum) and Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach) have also been nominated.
Athletes from North Rhine Westphalia are feted with the Felix Champions Award that, in addition to their sporting performances, also highlights their commitment, fair play and their personality. The prize is also awarded in six other categories including the best team plus the best female athlete and best male athlete. The trophies will be presented in Düsseldorf on 10 December.
The vote is open until 30 November. You can vote for Flo now HERE.
Looking forward to Wednesday's DFB Cup tie against Karlsruher SC on Wednesday, 27 October (kick-off: 18.30 CEST/stadium opens: 16.30 CEST), the Werkself player Nadiem Amiri shared his views in an interview on dfb.de. The midfielder talked about the importance of the competition as well as the unique attraction of a DFB Cup final.
Amiri has a lot of memories of KSC from his time as a youth player at SV Waldhof Mannheim and at TSG Hoffenheim: "There was always a big rivalry and they were always hard-fought games against KSC. I'm happy about the draw and the tie." The full interview is available HERE.
If there is a victory on Wednesday then the Bayer 04 player has two reasons to celebrate: The day of the second round tie is his 25th birthday.
The dates are out: The #B04eSports team open their fourth season in the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) against the Storks of Holstein Kiel. The match is on Tuesday, 9 November from 18.00 CET. Following that match at 20.00 CET there is the second encounter with the Schalke 04 team. In the last match of this year there is a virtual derby against FC Köln. The season finale against Borussia Mönchengladbach is set for 1 March.
All the matches are on Tuesdays at 18.00 and 20.00 CET. In addition, all the games involving Leverkusen eSports players will be broadcast on the club's Twitch channel.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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