Kai Havertz left the Werkself to join the Blues in London with the then Chelsea head coach and club legend Frank Lampard immediately showing his confidence in the youngster. The Mariadorf-born player started in all of the first seven Premier League games for his new club and he provided two assists and scored one goal in the early part of the season. After a successful start to the campaign for the Blues and Havertz, the 21-year-old was laid low by a Covid-19 infection at the beginning of November.
He made his comeback in a phase where everything was not running smoothly for the Lampard team. Chelsea were only able to win three of their ten Premier League games between matchdays 10 and 19. Chelsea parted company with Lampard and brought in Thomas Tuchel. Havertz, who joined Bayer 04 when he was ten and progressed through all the junior teams before making his breakthrough with the Werkself senior squad, was able to show what he could do under the new coach as a centre forward or attacking midfielder and he has proved effective up front in Tuchel's 4-3-3 system.
Our former number 29 achieved his biggest success in the Champions League final against Manchester City – Havertz scored the only goal of the game on 29 May and was able to hoist probably the most desired trophy in the world into the night sky in Porto along with his teammates. A look at the stats shows: Kai Havertz has certainly established himself in his first season at Chelsea – the forward has scored nine goals and provided nine assists in his 45 games for the Blues.
Alongside Kai Havertz, Kevin Volland also accepted a new challenge abroad with a move to AS Monaco at the start of the 2020/21 season. The Ligue 1 club, with former Bayer 04 players Niko and Robert Kovac in charge of the team, wanted to get back on track after almost being relegated in 2018/19 and finishing ninth in the following season. The Kovac team succeeded in achieving that with the help of very good performances from Volland.
The team from the Principality were in the title race in France up to the end of the season and they finished third behind champions Lille (83 points) and the nine-time titleholders Paris Saint Germain (82 points). Monaco also reached the final of the French domestic cup but lost out 2-0 to PSG. The long-standing Werkself striker (2016-2020) scored two goals in the cup competition and Volland impressed in the league with 16 goals and eight assists which was recognised by Joachim Löw with his call up to the Germany squad for the European Championship finals.
Adrian Stanilewicz moved up to the Bayer 04 senior squad from the Kurtekotten youth set-up in 2019 and in the following season signed for SV Darmstadt to try his luck in the second division. The versatile defender made several brief appearances under the former Bayer 04 youth coach Markus Anfang and he started against SC Paderborn and twice against Erzgebirge Aue. The former Kurtekotten home-grown player has been suffering with a persistent knee injury since the start of April and is currently unavailable for the Lilies.
Joel Pohjanpalo played for the Werkself in the first match of the Bundesliga season against VfL Wolfsburg (0-0). 'Danger' then went out on loan to Bundesliga rivals Union Berlin where he played from matchday three. The Finnish striker scored on his Union debut against FSV Mainz 05 – and Pohjanpalo again scored for the Irons three games later.
The international teammate of the Werkself keeper Lukas Hradecky was then sidelined for eleven games with an ankle injury. After returning to the team, the 26-year-old made Union history: With his goals against Werder Bremen on matchday 31 between minutes 50 and 67, the Finn scored the first hat-trick in the Berlin club's Bundesliga history. Pohjanpalo ended the season in seventh place with Union Berlin with the Fischer team qualifying for Europe for the first time – Pohjanpalo played a big part in that with his six goals. Not least with his leveller at 1-1 at Leverkusen.
Bayer 04 central defender Panagiotis Retsos also went out on loan for a season joining the Ligue 1 club AS Saint-Etienne. The 22-year-old Greek has had a relatively sobering time in France. 'Panos' only made four appearances for the Green and Whites. Nevertheless: Retsos played the full 90 minutes in the league match against Paris Saint Germain against the exceptional strikers Neymar and Killian Mbappé and he succeeded in helping his team to secure a 1-1 draw against this year's Champions League semi-finalists.
For Ayman Azhil, who progressed to the Werkself first team through the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, the key requirement ahead of season 2020/21 was to gain match practice. The defensive midfielder went out on loan to the Eredivisie club RKC Waalwijk. Under the team coached by Fred Grim, he played against the top Dutch sides Ajax and PSV Eindhoven where he made a name for himself with an assist. In a possible 34 first division matches, Azhil made 22 appearances, mainly in central midfield. The young German-Moroccan was unable to play in the season run-in due to a muscle injury.
Sandwiched between their UEFA Champions League knockout play-off tie against Olympiacos, Bayer 04 return to Bundesliga action on Saturday with a trip to Union Berlin (kick-off: 15:30 CET). It’s a fixture of contrasting styles, with Leverkusen preferring to control the play while Union look to remain compact and counter. The Berliners are therefore suited to facing top teams, but they have only ever managed to win one of 16 meetings with the Werkself, who are looking for a fifth clean sheet of 2026 but will need to beware the home side’s threat from set pieces. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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After six wins in seven games, the Werkself will be looking to continue their winning run in the capital at FC Union Berlin. Coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke ahead of the match on Saturday, 21 February (kick-off: 15:30 CET) about defenders, the short preparation time and the condition of the pitch at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
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Union Berlin have performed particularly well against the top clubs in the Bundesliga this season with a draw at home to Bayern Munich and wins against VfB Stuttgart and RB Leipzig. This Saturday, 21 February (kick-off: 15:30 CET), the Irons now welcome the Werkself, currently sixth in the table, to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. And the hosts are in desperate need of a win. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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It took exactly 60 minutes for the Werkself to take the lead through a perfectly finished counter-attack by Patrik Schick in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off at Olympiacos. Referring to the meeting in the league phase and the initially squandered opportunities, coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: "I thought: 'Oh no, déjà-vu.'" But after the opening goal, it took just 144 seconds for the Czech to spark more wild celebrations among those in black and red in the Greek cauldron, when Schick nodded in Alejandro Grimaldo's corner. Much to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans, his teammates and his coach, who had warm words for the striker in the aftermath. The Werkself Review.
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