Five goals in three Bundesliga games in October – also thanks to this impressive goals tally, Lucas Alario has been nominated for the October Player of the Month. The following players have been nominated in addition to the Argentinian: Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller (both FC Bayern), Matheus Cunha (Hertha Berlin), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund) and Angelino (RB Leipzig).
The official award is presented each month by the DFL in cooperation with EA SPORTS, it is awarded according to a two-stage process where both the individual performance data of the players and the opinions of pundits and fans are considered. You can vote for Alario HERE!
The current international break and associated weekend without training or matches comes at just the right time for Daley Sinkgraven. The girlfriend of the Dutch defender has given birth to a son called Dyce. The left-back shortly after the birth: “We are very proud. The nights are rather short at the moment – but that’s obviously wonderful.” Daley and his partner are continuing the baby boom at Bayer 04. Moussa Diaby, Leon Bailey, Patrik Schick, goalkeeping coach David Thiel and, for the second time, Kerem Demirbay plus former Leverkusen player Kevin Volland have all recently become fathers.
The Germany coach appears to like Black and Red: Since taking the job in 2006, Jogi Löw has called up 16 players who were at the Werkself when they made their debut for Germany. The most recent member of this group is Nadiem Amiri who played on Wednesday night in the 1-0 win in the friendly against the Czech Republic. The 24-year-old started his international career in the 2-2 draw in a friendly against Argentina on 9 October. Löw first picked Leverkusen players in the spring of 2007 – and three in one go. The coach from the Black Forest called up a Werkself trio of Simon Rolfes, Stefan Kießling and Gonzalo Castro. All three Leverkusen players made their debuts for Germany in a friendly against Denmark on 28 March of that year.
These players have made their debut for Germany while under the Bayer Cross (in chronological order): Simon Rolfes, Stefan Kießling, Gonzalo Castro, René Adler, Toni Kroos, Stefan Reinartz, Lars Bender, Sidney Sam, Philipp Wollscheid, Karim Bellarabi, Jonathan Tah, Bernd Leno, Julian Brandt, Benjamin Henrichs, Kai Havertz and Nadiem Amiri.
On Thursday night, 12 November, Lennart Grill starts the final international break of the year: The Leverkusen player is with the Germany U21s for the game against Slovenia in Braunschweig (kick-off: 18.15 CET). ProSieben MAXX are broadcasting the Euro U21 qualifier live on free TV.
Florian Wirtz has also been called up for the U21s by coach Stefan Kuntz but will not play against Slovenia. The 17-year-old “will not be overworked by agreement between Stefan Kuntz and Peter Bosz and is therefore not in the squad,” the DFB announced.
Moussa Diaby is also playing in the Euro qualifiers on Thursday with the 21-year-old in the France team away to Liechtenstein (kick-off: 20.45 CET). Also in action this evening: Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso. The central defender and his teammates play Malawi in an Africa Cup qualifier with the kick-off at 19.00 CET.
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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