The Werkself training ground is gradually filling up. For the Wednesday training session, head coach Peter Bosz had 16 outfield players available. That did not include international players in action on Tuesday night. While Paulinho completed a couple of circuits on the training ground in the afternoon, Moussa Diaby, Lukas Hradecky and Joel Pohjanpalo had a chance to recover.
Lars Bender was back on the pitch with his team-mates and he is looking for the team to contribute to Kai Havertz not being confronted with exaggerated expectations. "We have to take the pressure off him a bit. He should feel that he is still a young and talented player. He can have games that aren't so great and moments where he doesn't shine," said the team captain an interview with Sky. Last season, Havertz played in all 34 Bundesliga games scoring 17 goals along the way. Recently he has found success with Germany with the goal to make it 2-0 against Argentina plus an assist in the game against Estonia..
Werkself pro Kevin Volland took the opportunity of a free weekend during the international break to head back home to Thalhofen bei Marktoberdorf in eastern Allgäu. There he went with family and friends to watch the district league derby between his hometown club FC Thalhofen and TV Erkheim. Even though the game ended in a 2-1 defeat, the spectators showed their appreciation when the stadium announcer informed them of the presence of the Bundesliga pro. Volland played for FC Thalhofen for ten years before moving on to Memmingen, Thannhausen, 1860 Munich and TSG Hoffenheim before joining Bayer 04.
Kai Havertz is the only German player nominated for the Golden Boy Award. The Italian sports journal 'Tuttosport' is making awards for the 17th time for the best U21 players in Europe. The Werkself number 29 has the chance on 16 December to become the second German pro after Mario Götze (2011) to pick up this prestigious award for young talented players. There is some famous competition. Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich) and Dejan Joveljic (Eintracht Frankfurt) from the Bundesliga join players from other top European leagues including Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid), Phil Foden (Manchester City) and title holder Mathijs de Ligt (Juventus) on a 20-man shortlist.
Every holiday has a Bayer 04 Soccer School. And once again during this autumn holiday week there are lots of kids in action in and around the BayArena. One high point of the week is the press conference with one of the Werkself protagonists. This week, the head of the first team section was the visitor: Sporting director Simon Rolfes fielded questions from 80 children. There he admitted he is no friend of the computer game FIFA. "I tried it out when I was playing. My team-mate back then Patrick Helmes introduced me to it and then after our game gave me a tip: 'Simon, leave it alone!' I've stuck to that." Instead, Rolfes preferred to read books and periodicals and since December 2018 he has been the sporting director at Bayer 04.
Former Bayer 04 pro Roberto Hilbert celebrates his 35th birthday today. Hilbert played for the Werkself from 2013 to 2017. In 78 appearances, the right back scored one goal and provided seven assists. He also gained eight caps for Germany. Hilbert finished his professional career at SpVgg Greuther Fürth and he has remained at the club since then. He plays for the reserve team and also works for the club as a youth coach.
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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A memorable 12 months: 2025 was a year marked by success, intense competition and groundbreaking innovations for the #B04eSports team. After ending the 2024/25 season as runners-up, the Leverkusen-based console pros got down to business in a new, completely restructured season model, in which showdowns rather than divisions were the decisive factor on the road to the final round of the German Club Championship. Bayer 04 quickly earned a place in the history books of the most prestigious competition in German eSports and secured some valuable advantages for the coming year. Bayer04.de takes a look back at 12 months full of passion and the determination to take the next step.
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