Following the 4-0 home win against Eintracht Frankfurt, 04 Black and Red players made it into the kicker "team of the day". Edmond Tapsoba, Jonathan Tah and Kai Havertz are in it for the second time this season, and Paulinho is selected for the first time. Kicker also named the Brazilian "player of the day": "After his three moments of brilliance", the "promise for the distant future has suddenly grown quite close."
The Sportschau takes a similar view and included Paulinho, Havertz and Karim Bellarabi in their "team of the matchday". The BILD also awarded top marks and picked out Tapsoba, Havertz and Paulinho with places in their "team of the day".
After just 04 minutes, Havertz was in the right spot in the Bundesliga game against Frankfurt as he converted a cross from Moussa Diaby to open the scoring. That strike was at the same time the 30th Bundesliga goal for the Bayer 04 playmaker. At the age of 20 years and 270 days, Havertz is the youngest player in the history of the Bundesliga to reach that number of goals. The previous record holder was no less than Klaus Fischer – when he set the record back in 1970 he was 15 days older than Havertz when he reached the same number of goals.
Two goals scored plus an impressive assist: By being directly involved in three goals and with a pass rate of 88%, Paulinho played a key role in achieving the seventh home win in succession across all competitions.
N.B.: No other player in Europe's top five leagues were involved in as many goals at the weekend.
Werkself head coach Peter Bosz was also happy with the performance of his team – and, as a reward, he gave his players Sunday off and there was no session planned for Monday before the game against Frankfurt. The only players at the BayArena yesterday were those needing treatment due to the after effects of the match.
Rangers won their last league game ahead of the first leg in the Europa League Round of 16 (Thursday, 12 March, 21.00 CET). The team under head coach Steven Gerrard secured a 1-0 win against Ross County last night. The only goal of the game and scored by Ryan Kent on 77 minutes.
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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