Like Luka Modric (Real Madrid) and Mateo Kovacic (Chelsea), the central defender enjoyed the highly-rated youth development at the top Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb. At the age of 17, Tin Jedvaj joined AS Roma who loaned him to Bayer 04 a year later. Jedvaj knew how to impress at Leverkusen and he was signed on permanent terms in January 2015. The Croatia international (24 caps) went on to play for the Werkself for four and half years – until he was loaned out to Augsburg last summer.
From matchday 2 to 24 there were only two games where he did not go the full distance: Jedvaj became an irreplaceable first choice in defence in the south-west of Bavaria. He can look back at 31 appearances and two goals for FCA where he has been coached by former Werkself boss Heiko Herrlich since March. There was praise for Jedvaj from Herrlich’s predecessor Martin Schmidt, who talked about the possible retention of the central defender at FCA beyond the summer last December: “If he carries on playing like that then we aren’t big enough. He’s a regular starter for Croatia and set to play in the Euros in the summer (Euro 2020 has been put back to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, ed.). Not just the Bundesliga is licking their lips about him.”
After a hat-trick of league titles between 2011 and 2013 with the top Finnish club HJK Helsinki, the likeable striker joined Bayer 04 on loan in the summer of 2013 but went straight out to VfR Aalen to get match practice with the then second division club. Joel Pohjanpalo went back to Helsinki on loan in the following season and then he played – also on loan – for Fortuna Düsseldorf up to the summer of 2016. After three and a half years at Bayer 04, which were unfortunately marred by a number of injuries, he was signed in January of this year for the second half of the season by Hamburg SV.
The Finn has been battling for promotion to the Bundesliga with Hamburg. Pohjanpalo scored nine goals in 14 games for HSV and this impressive return in just half a season saw him become the second-highest goalscorer (along with Lukas Hinterseer). The North German club missed out on promotion on matchday 34 with a 5-1 defeat against SV Sandhausen.
Born in Johannesburg, Panagiotis Retsos – usually called ‘Panos’ – moved to Greece at an early age. He started his playing career at the age of five with a club just outside Athens. When he was ten, the versatile defender joined the youth section at the top-flight Greek club Olympiakos. Retsos broke through to the first team in 2015. He then played for all the Greece youth teams. Bayer 04 signed him in the summer of 2017 and Retsos won five caps for Greece during his time in Leverkusen. At the end of January, Bayer 04 and the defender agreed to him going out on loan.
The destination: Sheffield United. Premier League. The newly promoted club were the surprise team of the season and they are in a race for a European spot along with Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Arsenal and Everton. While the northern English team are still in with a chance of qualifying for the Europa League, Retsos has already finished his stint in Sheffield. After just 14 minutes in the FA Cup and no time on the pitch in the league, the loan deal for the Greek ended on 30 June although the season is still going in England.
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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