
Almost like a phoenix from the ashes, winter signing Edmond Tapsoba has become a regular starter in the team under head coach Peter Bosz. “It’s a dream come true,” said the 21-year-old in an interview with the Werks11 Magazine. Tapsoba talks about his unusual career path and explains why he had to change his sleeping habits after his move from Portugal to adjust to the German mentality.
His Leverkusen teammate Patrik Schick joined the Werkself in the summer. The Czech Republic international, who became a father for the first time in October, came to Leverkusen via Prague, Genoa, Rome and Leipzig and now provides an interview with the Werks11 Magazine on top of the famous Leverkusen Water Tower.
Under the title “Perfect long-distance relationship”, the magazine looks at the special link between Bayer 04 and America, which reached a milestone in September. The signing of the Colombian Santiago Arias (Atlético Madrid) marked the arrival of the 40th player from America in the Rhineland to play for the Black and Reds. In addition to the defender, unfortunately sidelined with a long-term injury, six other players from the other side of the Atlantic are in the current Bayer 04 squad.
The Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) started it’s fourth season on 10 November. Bayer 04 are competing again and the successful duo of Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin and Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ De Cae are looking to make a good start together with two new signings at the #B04eSports team. The Werks11 Magazine introduces both eSports players and also talks to Florian Dederichs, head of eSports at Bayer 04, about the importance of virtual football for the club.
Click HERE to access the new edition. Enjoy the read!
You can browse all the previous Werks11 Magazines since edition 1 from 2015/16 at bayer04.de.


Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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