“Together with Alejandro Grimaldo, we have experienced the most breathtaking period in Bayer 04’s history, and he was undoubtedly a key part of our shared success,” said Bayer 04 managing director sport Simon Rolfes. “His style of play was a defining feature of our Werkself, and his free-kicks were iconic – for that, we owe him our thanks. We now bid Grima farewell with our best wishes for his time ahead in La Liga.”
The 30-year-old left-footed player joined the Rhineland-based Bundesliga club on a free transfer from Benfica in 2023. He is now leaving Leverkusen, but not without highlighting what made this recent chapter of his career in Germany so special: “What we achieved here at Leverkusen touched football fans across Europe. I will never forget the unbeaten league title in 2024, winning the DFB Pokal in the same year and, on top of that, reaching the Europa League final,” said Grimaldo, who is currently competing for the World Cup title in North America with Spain. “Bayer 04 and its fans have enriched my life right up to this summer; I’m very grateful for everything this club has given me. But now I’m fulfilling my lifelong dream of competing for trophies and titles in my home country for the first time with an absolute top-class team. Adiós, Bayer 04 – see you again!”
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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