Lucas Alario has impressed Bayer 04 fans: In last weekend's home win against Augsburg, our number 13 scored a brilliant goal with a back-heel on 81 minutes. With an assist from Robert Andrich, The Argentinian forward put the ball through the legs of the FCA keeper Rafal Gikiewicz to make it 5-1 and his goal has been voted Goal of the Month for January, presented by like2drive. Congratulations. Alario's impressive feat can be seen again HERE.
Willibert Kremer, the coach of the Werkself side promoted in 1979, passed away on Christmas Eve last year at the age of 82. Invited guests paid their last respects to the legendary Bayer 04 coach this morning at the VIP marquee at SC Victoria Köln where Kremer was a player and later also coach. The Bayer 04 managing directors Fernando Carro and Rudi Völler were there along with former general manager Reiner Calmund and several players from the promotion team of 1979 who were coached by Kremer. Rest in peace, Willibert.
The Werkself wish many happy returns to three birthday boys from the Black and Red family today.
First up is Sidney Sam who is 34 today. The former winger made 124 appearances for the Werkself between 2010 and 2014 scoring 36 goals during his time at Leverkusen. The left-footer ended his playing career last summer after spells at FC Schalke 04, Darmstadt 98, VfL Bochum, SCR Altach (Austria) and Antalyaspor (Turkey). At the end of his career, Sam was a guest on the Werkself podcast. Episode number 39 with the Kiel-born player is available free of charge at any time on the usual podcast platforms.
Many happy returns also to Jurica Vranješ on his 42nd birthday. The former Croatia international joined Bayer 04 Leverkusen from his hometown club NK Osijek at the turn-of-the-century and in 2001 he was part of our #RoadToGlasgow team. Vranješ moved on to VfB Stuttgart after three years with the Black and Reds.
Bayer 04 also wish a happy birthday to Dominic Kohr who is 28 today. The holding midfielder played for the youth teams at Leverkusen from the age of 15 and went on to make 69 appearances for the senior side and 33 for the second team. The midfielder is currently at Mainz 05 on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt.
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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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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