The players in Black and Red have already surpassed the goals return from last season after 21 matchdays: The Werkself have netted 54 times (last season: 53). Ten of those strikes from the team under head coach Gerardo Seoane came in the past two weeks – with five against FC Augsburg (5-1) and Borussia Dortmund (5-2).
"Confidence always plays a role," explained coach Seoane. And his players certainly have that at the moment: The team have clocked up three wins and one draw in 2022 – putting them top of the form table in the second half of the season. The 43-year-old boss primarily sees the reason for the upturn, after a brief drop in points just before Christmas (one point from three games), as the work in training over recent weeks.
Compared with the months in late autumn, where the Werkself consistently had a busy run of fixtures, Jonathan Tah and Co., have spent considerably more time on the training grounds at the BayArena since the start of the year. Seoane: "We’ve used these weeks to work on certain things – such as transition after winning the ball or learning certain runs. It's all a process and requires a lot of training." Training that is now paying off.
The Werkself are currently clearly top of the table in terms of converting chances: 54 goals from 367 shots provide an impressive rate of 14.7% (In second: BVB with 13.8%; In third: Bayern Munich with 11.6%).
Seoane and his fellow coaches have also fine-tuned the approach to defending. One really important element in the development for the Werkself in the defensive area are previous experiences – which were not always positive. The late 2-1 defeat at Freiburg or the 2-2 draw after leading 2-0 in the derby against FC Köln were "negative experiences at that moment." But Seoane has processed those games with his players in detail and worked out solutions together. The Swiss coach makes it clear: “We first have to go through situations like that to be able to draw conclusions for our game."
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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