Continuity in the head coach role with the oldest youth team: Sven Hübscher, working under the Bayer Cross for the past 18 months, will again be responsible for the Leverkusen U19 team next season, his assistant coach is Markus Daun. The Hübscher team missed out by just one goal in the semi-finals of the U19 German championships last weekend. Bayer 04 finished third in the U19 Bundesliga West.
The U17 team will have a new head coach for the 2022/23 season: The Spaniard Sergi Runge, who speaks fluent German and is currently the assistant coach of the team, now takes charge of the Bayer 04 U17 squad. "Sergi has made a very good impression on recent months. He has quickly settled in to his new role and he has everything required to be the coach in charge," said Thomas Eichin, head of the Youth and Women's teams at Bayer 04.
Runge came to Leverkusen at the beginning of March from the world famous Barcelona academy. The 28-year-old was assistant coach of the U16 side at the top Spanish club. Before that, Runge was assistant coach of the first team and head coach of the U17s at the top Costa Rican club Liga Deportiva Alajuelnse.
In addition to assistant coach Thomas Zdebel, Runge will have a new fitness coach from the summer: Philipp Walther joined Leverkusen from the Fortuna Düsseldorf U17s. The Fortuna U17s qualified for the semi-finals of the German Championships last season with the 28-year-old in charge of fitness.
Coaching line-up for 2022/23:
U19: Sven Hübscher, Markus Daun
U17: Sergi Runge, Thomas Zdebel
Academy team/U16: Benjamin Adam, TBA
U15: Mirko Casper, Marvin Schmitz
U14: Pierre de Wit, Fritz Vosen
U13: Erdal Celik, Marco Walter
U12: Yannick Lamberz, Dominik Kepper
U11: Alexander Nuss, Achim Gödde
U10: Sebastian Lang, René Färber
U9: Tim Molowitz, TBA
U8: Jürgen Haagmans, Mark Fuldauer, Dennis Sartory
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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