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.
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.
Show more
Another showdown in the race for the Champions League places takes place in Swabia: on Saturday 9 May (kick-off 15:30 CEST), the Werkself visit VfB Stuttgart, who are only behind on goal difference. In his pre-match press conference, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about confidence, excitement and mentality.
Show more
Reinforcement in attack: Bayer 04 Leverkusen have secured the transfer of striker Maja Sternad from Bundesliga rivals SV Werder Bremen. The 22-year-old has signed a contract until 30 June 2028.
Show more
It's a thrilling situation: as the season draws to a close, Stuttgart and Bayer 04 are heading into the home stretch almost neck and neck. After 32 games, with 17 wins, seven draws and eight defeats each, both teams are on 58 points. Even in terms of goals scored, VfB and the Werkself are level on 66. The Black and Reds have conceded just three fewer goals (43) than their rivals (46), which is why they sit one place behind fourth-placed Leverkusen. This Saturday, 9 May (kick-off: 15.30 CEST), the two teams go head to head at the MHP Arena in Stuttgart. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
