In addition to the Werkself, the following are in the category of Men's Club of the Year: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund and Girona. In the category of Men's Coach of the Year, Xabi Alonso is joined by Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid), Luis de la Fuente (Spain), Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Pep Guardiola (Manchester City) and Lionel Scaloni (Argentina).
30 players have been shortlisted for the Men's Ballon d'Or – including the Bayer 04 players Alejandro Grimaldo, Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka.
About the Ballon d’Or:
The Ballon d'Or has been awarded by the French magazine France Football since 1956 to the best players of the calendar year or since 2022 for the previous season. Initially designed for European players at European clubs, the award was opened up from 1995 to all players playing in Europe. The winners have also been described as European Player of the Year as a result.
For the first time, the Ballon d'Or is not only awarded by France Football but also by UEFA this year.
Construction work continues on the ‘Haus der Talente’ on Kurtekottenweg in Leverkusen, where 36 young elite athletes will find a new home from next summer. The building team from Temmink Bau, led by Thomas Wellers, are hard at work. Over the past few days, excavators, wheeled loaders and rollers have removed 2,500 cubic metres of soil to excavate the basement.
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In a top-quality encounter, the Bayer 04 women’s team lost 3-2 at home to Bayern Munich. Paulina Tomasiak opened the scoring with a free-kick (36’) and also netted a superb goal to make it 2–1 (52’). Vanessa Gilles (51') and Edna Imade (68') equalised for FC Bayern in a fast-paced and extremely entertaining match. Alara Sehitler sealed the win late on for the reigning champions.
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Special events for a special match: Bayer 04 are offering fans a varied programme of events at tonight’s home game in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga against German champions Bayern Munich (kick-off: 18:00 CEST). Alongside a number of interactive activities, events to mark the DFB Sustainability matchday are also planned around the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Read on in the matchday news ahead of the clash with FC Bayern.
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Once again, two Fritz Walter Gold Medals are heading to Leverkusen: Bayer 04 new signing Kennet Eichhorn and Francis Onyeka, a product of the Werkself youth set-up, currently on loan at SV Elversberg, were honoured for their performances during the 2025/26 season. The DFB announced the awards on Monday, 14 September. The Fritz Walter Medal is the most prestigious individual award in German youth football.
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