With over 76% of the 2,500 votes cast, the 20-year-old Germany international was clearly ahead of his team-mates – the Werkself number 29 played a significant role in securing qualification for the Champions League with 17 goals and four assists in his 34 Bundesliga appearances. The fans certainly recognised the value of the performances and commitment of Havertz and once again rewarded the home-grown Bayer 04 talent with the vote as Player of the Season in a repeat of 2016/17. The award will be presented to Havertz at the season launch event at the BayArena on 4 August. Nils Trude, winner of a competition held as part of the vote, will hand over the trophy.
Charles Aránguiz was runner-up with 7% of the vote. The 30-year-old Chilean scored two goals and provided seven assists in 24 league games last season. The midfield maestro, who carried over his impressive performances in the Bundesliga to the Copa América, was narrowly ahead of Kevin Volland in third place on 5%. The 26-year-old also had an exceptional season and was involved in 18 goals in the second half of the Bundesliga campaign (eight goals, ten assists). The ten-time Germany international scored 14 goals in the Bundesliga to equal his personal goalscoring record from 2017/18.
The following fans were picked out as winners: Nils Trude (2 VIP tickets plus presentation of the trophy), Hilger Georges (home shirt), Michael Herkenroth (away shirt) plus Christopher Leseberg, Stefan Vogt, Daniel Köthe, Kristina Hartmann and Finja Übrick (two tickets each for a home game).
The Werkself need a win in their penultimate match of the season at RB Leipzig on Monday evening (18:00 CEST) to keep their hopes of third place alive until the final day. After Eintracht Frankfurt lost on Saturday, Roberto Pätzold's side can close the gap on their rivals to two points and leave it all to play for next Sunday.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-3 loss at VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 33 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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Down to fifth from fourth place despite taking an early lead: in the head-to-head for a Champions League spot, Bayer 04 were 1-0 up at VfB Stuttgart with just a minute played thanks to an Aleix Garcia strike, but ultimately lost 3-1 (2-1) to the more determined hosts. It meant the Swabians leapfrogged the Werkself in the Bundesliga table on the penultimate matchday.
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Today sees Bayer 04 go head-to-head with their next direct rivals in the race for Champions League qualification (kick-off 15:30 CEST). Opponents Stuttgart are currently fifth in the table, level on points with the Werkself but one place below them due to a three-goal inferior goal difference. The Black and Reds' record at Bad Cannstatt tells a clearer story: they've not lost at VfB for over 16 years. One important factor in securing what would be three crucial points away from home is Leverkusen's strength on the counter-attack. Whilst Stuttgart are also extremely dangerous going forward, they will be without their captain. Today’s matchday news.
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