News in brief: Amiri scores January Goal of the Month

Florian Wirtz chipped the ball to Nadiem Amiri, he turned with it at his feet and then skilfully back heeled it through the legs of the Eintracht Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp: The Werkself player justifiably won the vote for Goal of the Month of January on the ARD Sportschau having picked up almost half of the votes for that piece of artistry. Some 110,000 votes went to the back-heel from the 24-year-old in the away game at Eintracht Frankfurt (1-2) on 2 January.

Amiri his the 16th Leverkusen player to have scored the Goal of the Month. The previous Werkself winner was Eren Derdiyok in October 2011. Click HERE for all the Bayer 04 Goals of the Month on video.

Tapsoba in Team of the Day

Commanding at the back, scorer of the crucial equaliser up front: The sports journal kicker awarded a high mark of 2.5 to Edmond Tapsoba for his performance in the 1-1 draw at Augsburg. The central defender was named in the kicker Team of the Day – for the second time this season. Tapsoba secured a point for the Werkself with his first Bundesliga goal in the fourth minute of added time at FC Augsburg.

Moreover: The 22-year-old is now to be found officially on Facebook. 'Eddy' wrote a short message there after the draw at Augsburg on Saturday night: "Relieved about my last-minute goal!" Click HERE for his profile:

Youth Bundesliga football: ReSTART remains an option

The DFB youth committee has postponed the final decision on continuing the youth Bundesliga games. The committee is waiting for the next round of discussions between the Federal government and the states of Germany on the coronavirus pandemic to be held on 3 March. A decision will probably be made in the following week. The DFB youth committee has already produced and presented possible scenarios for the return of fixtures in April.

The decision also affects the Black and Red youth players: The Bayer 04 U19s are in the U19 Bundesliga West and the Leverkusen U17s in the U17 Bundesliga West. Both teams are in eighth place in their sections after having played for and three games respectively. The last competitive matches took place in October of last year.

Double congratulations

Before the start of the season, Adrian Stanilewicz left Bayer 04 after ten and a half years at the club. The homegrown player wanted more time on the pitch and therefore moved on to SV Darmstadt 98. The central midfielder has made seven appearances for the second division team to date. At the start of the week, Stanilewicz, who was on the losing side with the Lilies on Saturday in a 3-2 defeat against FC St Pauli, celebrated his 21st birthday. Bayer 04 wish Adi many happy returns and much success in his future career.

Walter Posner was with the Werkself as long as Stanilewicz – even if it was a few years earlier. The former versatile defender joined the Werkself in the summer of 1975. In the following nine years, Posner played 141 games for Bayer 04 in the second division North and after promotion in 1979 there were another 134 first division appearances. Walter, Bayer 04 wish you many happy returns on your 68th birthday.