
The winner in the Laureus World Breakthrough of the Year category was football player Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain). The award winners were decided ahead of the event by the Laureus Academy made up of 70 of the greatest living sports legends.
The Werkself won the German league title for the first time in the club's history in 2023/24 in the most impressive way without a single defeat. In addition, the team led by head coach Xabi Alonso reached the final of the UEFA Europa League and sealed the German double by winning the DFB Pokal. And Bayer 04 secured a third trophy within a few months by winning the Supercup last summer.

The other winners in 2025 alongside Lamine Yamal are the pole vaulter Armand Duplantis (World Sportsman of the Year), gymnast Simone Biles (World Sportswoman of the Year), plus Real Madrid (World Team of the Year) and Rafael Nadal (Sporting Icon Award).
The Laureus World Sports Awards:
The Laureus World Sports Awards, celebrating the 25th anniversary this year, are the most prestigious awards in sport and are also known as the 'Oscars of Sports'. The aim is to honour outstanding sporting achievements as well as promoting community projects through the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. Previous winners include Lionel Messi, the Spain men's and women's teams, Rafael Nadal and Michael Schumacher.

In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...

After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
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Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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