Werkself supporters had the chance to vote. Under bundesliga-allstars.bayer04.de, participants had to put together an 18-man squad plus coach from 294 players and 25 coaches. Most votes went to Ulf Kirsten. 90.89 % of participants included 'Der Schwatte' in their squads. He was followed by Bernd 'Schnix' Schneider (90.02 %) and Stefan 'Kies' Kießling (82.39%). They led the starting eleven with the most votes: Rüdiger Vollborn – Lars Bender, Jens Nowotny, Lucio, Zé Roberto – Carsten Ramelow, Simon Rolfes – Bernd Schneider, Michael Ballack – Ulf Kirsten, Stefan Kießling.
The supporters only had one vote for the coaches. Christoph Daum (33.92%) led the way ahead of Jupp Heynckes (23.12%) and Klaus Toppmöller (12.37%). The fact that different fan generations took part in the vote is demonstrated by the following names. Jürgen Gelsdorf and Thomas Hörster are the only two promotion heroes of 1979 and the current Werkself squad has four players: Lars Bender, Julian Brandt, Kai Havertz and Jonathan Tah.
The last six players will definitely be there when Bayer 04 entertain Schalke 04 in the last home game of the season on Saturday, 11 May 2019. The last four will hopefully be on the pitch and the two promotion heroes in the stands. The management of Bayer 04 Leverkusen have invited the 'Bundesliga All Stars' voted for by the fans online to the match. They will watch the game from the stands and then review "40 years of the Bundesliga under the Bayer Cross'.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen finally reached the top flight on 13 May 1979. A 3-3 draw against Bayer 05 Uerdingen at the Ullrich Harberland Stadium saw the team coached by Willibert Kramer secure promotion to the top-flight in Germany. The adventure of the Bundesliga started on 11 August 1979 with an away game at Bayern Munich. Bayer 04 have remained in the top division since that day – in addition to the Werkself, only Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund share that record.
Goalkeepers: René Adler, Hans-Jörg Butt, Bernd Leno, Rüdiger Vollborn
Defence: Daniel Carvajal, Manuel Friedrich, Jürgen Gelsdorf, Thomas Hörster, Sami Hyypiä, Jorginho, Juan, Lucio, Jens Nowotny, Diego Placente, Jonathan Tah, Christian Wörns
Midfield: Michael Ballack, Lars Bender, Gonzalo Castro, Emerson, Kai Havertz, Toni Kroos, Hans-Peter Lehnhoff, Carsten Ramelow, Renato Augusto, Simon Rolfes, Bernd Schneider, Bernd Schuster, Arturo Vidal, Zé Roberto
Attack: Dimitar Berbatov, Julian Brandt, Bum-kun Cha, Stefan Kießling, Ulf Kirsten, Oliver Neuville, Paulo Sergio, Andreas Thom, Rudi Völler, Herbert Waas
Coaches: Christoph Daum, Peter Hermann, Jupp Heynckes, Erich Ribbeck, Klaus Toppmöller
After just two points from their last four games, the situation has become trickier for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the bottom third of the table. Only three points separate the Foals from the relegation play-off spot. Coach Eugen Polanski's team is under pressure ahead of the home game against the Werkself on Saturday, 7 February (kick-off: 18:30 CET). The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Calling all eSports fans: On Saturday, 21 February (from 16:00 CET), the Werkself Wildcard Cup will take place at XPERION Köln (Hansaring 97, 50670 Cologne). Interested EA FC 26 amateur players will have the opportunity to win attractive prizes and a place in the VBL Open Play-offs by WOW. The play-offs are the final preliminary stage of the VBL Grand Final by WOW, the tournament for the German individual championship and, alongside the club championship (VBL CC), the most important sub-competition in the German eSports scene. Read on for information on registration.
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At its first general meeting on 5 February 2026 in Frankfurt am Main, the Frauen Bundesliga FBL e.V. made key decisions regarding the future direction of the Women’s Bundesliga. The meeting was based on the results of the negotiations with the German Football Association (DFB) over the past few weeks.
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Another efficient performance from the Werkself in the 3-0 home win against FC St. Pauli saw them reach the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal for the third time in a row, and it was not the only record set on what was a successful evening. It meant head coach Kasper Hjulmand was delighted to "still be in with the chance of winning something". Like the coach, however, the ambitious Edmond Tapsoba also stated that he wanted to keep "improving" bit by bit: "We'll continue to give our all, no matter who we come up against." The Werkself review of the clash.
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