The ZDF show has been running since 1963 and always ends with a goal wall challenge. "Three at the bottom, three at the top" will be heard again late on Saturday evenings when the ZDF presenter Jochen Breyer asks the former top striker to take on a challenger. Before that, Breyer and Rudi Völler will discuss the results of the Saturday matches, talk about the run-in and look forward to the forthcoming Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Monday 2 May. Remaining tickets for the game are available from the Bayer 04 ticket shop.
The 62-year-old showed what's needed for shots from seven yards in March 1985. Back then a player with Werder Bremen, his five strikes put him right at the top of the list. A record that Völler now shares with just eight of the goal wall marksmen. One of those to clock up five with a Bayer 04 past is Reinhard Saftig who was the coach at Leverkusen from July 1991 to May 1993. He achieved that masterpiece in October 1991 and is the only goal wall marksman with the Werkself at the time up to now.
In addition to Völler and Saftig, a large number of other Leverkusen players and managers have sat at the interview table on the 'aktuelles sportstudio' programme. Erich Ribbeck, who coached the Werkself to win the UEFA Cup in 1988, faced questions from the presenters in around 30 broadcasts. A couple fewer visits were made by Christoph Daum who was in the Bayer 04 dugout for 185 games between 1996 and 2000.
The most recent guest from the Werkself on 20 November 2021 was midfield maestro Robert Andrich. The 27-year-old midfielder made his way to Mainz after the 1-0 home win against VfL Bochum on matchday 12. The Bayer 04 number eight sank one of six attempts in the goal wall challenge.
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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