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.
Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and Bayer 04 loanee Francis Onyeka are part of Germany's final squad for the U19 European Championships this summer. The tournament is in Wales from 24 June to 12 July.
Show more
Bayer 04 are away to third-division club SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal. That was the outcome of the draw on Saturday night, 6 June, at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. The Werkself first round tie will be played between 21 and 24 August. The exact date has yet to be finalised.
Show more
Carles Martìnez is raring to go. The 42-year-old speaks in his first interview in Leverkusen about the club's development to date and how he wants to build on it. He describes his previous work in France, Kuwait, Qatar and his native Barcelona, his experience in developing young players, and the key steps between now and the start of pre-season training.
Show more
New Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez has arrived in Leverkusen! At midday on Friday, the 42-year-old spoke in a press conference at the BayArena about his philosophy and his aims. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes also discussed the reasons for appointing the former Toulouse boss.
Show more
