Ibrahim Maza was involved in twelve goals in 44 matches during the 2025/26 season. He scored seven goals across all competitions, provided five assists and impressed throughout the season as a driving force in attack. The 17-time Algerian international also secured the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month award for November 2025 and April 2026.
In the vote for Bayer 04 Player of the Season for 2025/26, Maza received 39.1 per cent of the votes cast.
In second place in the vote with 22.1 per cent is Alejandro Grimaldo. The Spaniard played 46 matches for Bayer 04 last season and had 26 goal involvements (14 goals, 12 assists).
Patrik Schick is also in the top three, as he was last year . Last year’s runner-up in the rankings was voted into third place this year with 14.2 per cent of the vote. His tally for the past season: 22 goals and four assists in 42 matches.
The top five:
Whilst Maza won the vote for Bayer 04 men’s Player of the Season, Vanesa Fudalla won the Bayer 04 women’s Player of the Season vote for 2025/26 with 28.9 per cent of the votes. Like Maza, this was also the forward’s first season playing for the club. Fudalla, the team’s top scorer, contributed 14 goals to the Bayer 04 Women’s team in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga, which was the most successful in the club’s history in terms of points won (46).
Germany international Carlotta Wamser came second with 18.4 per cent of the vote. She was followed by Kristin Kögel with 13.1 per cent, who is leaving the club after six years to take on a new challenge abroad.
The top five:
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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