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…
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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