Florian Wirtz is currently working hard on his comeback. The Germany international suffered a serious injury to his left knee in the derby against FC Köln on matchday 26 – the diagnosis: a torn cruciate. The talented forward first faces a period of rehab before making his return to the training ground. And there's a surprise from teammate Amine Adli on his birthday. Here's the video.
Before his injury, Wirtz got off to a flying start under the Bayer Cross. After his move from the youth set-up at FC Köln in January 2020, the Puhlheim-born midfielder did not need time to settle in and soon after arriving as a youth player he was in the Bundesliga team within a few months.
Wirtz first made his entry into the club history books at the age of 17 years, one month and three days in June 2020 as the youngest goalscorer: Playing at the BayArena, the Bayer 04 number 27 beat no less a figure than Manuel Neuer, the Bayern Munich and Germany goalkeeper, with a curler into the far corner. Wirtz became the second youngest goalscorer in Germany's top flight behind BVB youngster Youssoufa Moukoko.
The Leverkusen forward made his Bundesliga debut five matchdays earlier on 18 May 2020 in the away game at Werder Bremen. The then Werkself coach Peter Bosz put the young right-footer (17 years, 15 days) straight into the starting line-up and played him on the right flank. Wirtz was then the youngest Bundesliga player in the club's history but his place was taken in November of the following year by the talented youngsters Zidan Sertdemir and Iker Bravo.
Wirtz established another impressive record on 15 December 2021: In the Werkself home game against TSG Hoffenheim, the right-footer played in his 50th Bundesliga game. Back then he was the youngest player in Germany's top flight to achieve that record at the age of 18 years, 7 months and 12 days. Wirtz has now played 60 games in the Bundesliga. He has clocked up an impressive 19 goals and 22 assists in 79 matches across all competitions for the Werkself.
The versatile forward won over the key managers at the German Football Association (DFB) at an early age. Wirtz played for Germany for the first time with the U15s and he went on to play in the U16, U17 and U19 teams before Stefan Kuntz called him up to the U21 side for the first time in October 2020.
Wirtz was particularly impressive in the finals of the U21 European Championships in 2021: The Werkself player scored both goals in the 2-1 semi-final victory against the Netherlands. His first goal was in the back of the Oranje net after 29 seconds and that was the fastest ever goal in the history of the U 21 European Championships. Wirtz and Co. were able to beat Portugal 1-0 in the final and were crowned the U21 European Champions – also thanks to Wirtz.
The Bayer 04 player is now part of the Germany team. He made his debut under the new coach Hansi Flick in September 2021 in a 2-0 win against Liechtenstein in the World Cup qualifiers. At the age of 18 years, three months and 30 days back then, Wirtz became the eighth youngest Germany player ever. Since then he has made another three international appearances.
The brother of Juliane Wirtz, who plays for the Bayer 04 Women's team, received an individual award in August 2020: The DFB awarded the Leverkusen youngster the gold Fritz Walter medal in the U17 age group.
One thing is certain: After he makes his comeback, Florian Wirtz will be on course to clock up more records…
Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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A rematch in Athens: On Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), the Werkself face Greek double winners Olympiacos for the second time this season at the Karaiskakis Stadium. After the encounter in the league phase, it's now time for the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-offs. Ahead of the game, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how his side will approach the clash, while captain Robert Andrich explained how the team will try to dampen the atmosphere in the stadium tomorrow.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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