There is a positive overall summary for starters: If the Bundesliga season was assessed according to the calendar year then Bayer 04 would have secured qualification for the Champions League in fourth place – just as the final table stood in the summer. The Werkself have won 19 games and drawn five (ten defeats) since January after head coach Peter Bosz took charge under the Bayer Cross at the end of December last year with his team picking up 62 points. Only Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund clocked up more points in 2019. Equally amazing: Bayer 04 have finished in the top half of the table in the first half of a Bundesliga campaign for the fourteenth time in succession – only the record champions from Munich have a longer run (28).
Since the start of the year, Bayer 04 have scored 66 goals and conceded 44 in all competitions. Three games played a significant part in the tally: In the second half of last season, Bayer 04 won 5-1 away to Mainz and Hertha Berlin. In addition, there was the memorable 6-1 home win against Eintracht Frankfurt. All three matches make the top ten of the biggest-ever home or away wins for the Werkself.
One part of the successful formula this year has been the pressing of the Black and Reds: Opposing teams only had a 75% completion rate for passes against Bayer 04, which was the lowest against any other Bundesliga side. And there is also an impressive value in terms of possession: With the exception of FC Bayern, no other Bundesliga club has retained the ball more effectively (64%).
Julian Brandt left the Black and Reds to head for Dortmund in the summer, Dominik Kohr joined Eintracht Frankfurt and Tin Jedvaj went out on loan to FC Augsburg. Incomers were Kerem Demirbay and Nadiem Amiri (both from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Moussa Diaby (Paris St Germain) and Daley Sinkgraven (Ajax). Adrian Stanilewicz moved up to the first team squad from the U19s. The first new signing for next year is already agreed: The Argentinian Exequiel Palacios is set to join the Werkself from River Plate at the beginning of January.
Kevin Volland can delight in being the top goalscorer for the Werkself over the past 12 months. The striker has found the back of the net 15 times for the Leverkusen since January. He is ahead of Kai Havertz (14), Lucas Alario (13), Leon Bailey (8) and Julian Brandt (7) who joined Borussia Dortmund in the summer. The goalscorers' list for 2019 also includes Charles Aránguiz (4), Karim Bellarabi (3), Jonathan Tah (2) plus Sven Bender, Wendell, Paulinho and Moussa Diaby – first French goalscorer for the Werkself – with one each. The Werkself also benefited from eight own goals scored by opposing teams.
Central defender Sven Bender also had one of his best half seasons under the Bayer Cross. The 30-year-old not only completed 94% of his passes to a team-mate (fifth best in the league) but he also made the most passes of all players in Germany's top flight with a total of 1,341.
Hopefully these sorts of numbers will continue in 2020.
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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A memorable 12 months: 2025 was a year marked by success, intense competition and groundbreaking innovations for the #B04eSports team. After ending the 2024/25 season as runners-up, the Leverkusen-based console pros got down to business in a new, completely restructured season model, in which showdowns rather than divisions were the decisive factor on the road to the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 quickly earned a place in the history books of the most prestigious competition in German eSports and secured some valuable advantages for the coming year. Bayer04.de takes a look back at 12 months full of passion and the determination to take the next step.
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Sustainability once again had many faces at Bayer 04 in 2025: In community activity, the club supported countless regional campaigns, including the Leverkusener Tafel, the Frauenennotruf Leverkusen e.V. and the homeless aid organisation "Kältegang". But the Black and Reds have also been involved in good causes around the world - including the Young Coaches training programmes in Uganda and Ecuador plus the Genuine World Cup in the USA, where the Inclusion Werkself competed. Bayer 04 was also fully committed to the environment and underwent external and independently certification in accordance with the European environmental management standard EMAS, for example, to analyse and optimise the club’s environmental efforts. Looking back at sustainability in 2025.
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