Florian Wirtz had an impressive season in 2021/22 before his torn cruciate in the derby against FC Köln in March. The reporters at the sports magazine Sportbild have named 19-year-old as the player of the season at the Werkself. The attacking midfielder has “finally developed into a leader on the pitch.” The Bayer 04 number 27 has underlined that the impression with numbers: Wirtz has been directly involved in 17 goals in 24 league games. The Germany international scored seven goals and provided ten assists. The right-footer scored or set up a goal at an average of every 104 minutes.
Another Bundesliga player previously at Leverkusen also impressed the Sportbild editors. Goalkeeper Marcel Lotka was named as player of the season at Hertha Berlin. The 20-year-old spent three years under the Bayer Cross from 2017 before signing for the second team at Hertha in the summer of 2020. Lotka made eight appearances at the start of the season and then went on to make his Bundesliga debut against SC Freiburg on matchday 24. The Poland U21 international has since become first choice in goal and has only missed one league game. The Duisburg-born keeper suffered a broken nose and concussion in the game against Borussia Dortmund last Saturday (14 May). It remains to be seen whether he will be available for tomorrow’s Bundesliga play-off against Hamburg SV (19 May).
Florian Wirtz had an impressive season in 2021/22 before his torn cruciate in the derby against FC Köln in March. The reporters at the sports magazine Sportbild have named 19-year-old as the player of the season at the Werkself. The attacking midfielder has “finally developed into a leader on the pitch.” The Bayer 04 number 27 has underlined that the impression with numbers: Wirtz has been directly involved in 17 goals in 24 league games. The Germany international scored seven goals and provided ten assists. The right-footer scored or set up a goal at an average of every 104 minutes.
Another Bundesliga player previously at Leverkusen also impressed the Sportbild editors. Goalkeeper Marcel Lotka was named as player of the season at Hertha Berlin. The 20-year-old spent three years under the Bayer Cross from 2017 before signing for the second team at Hertha in the summer of 2020. Lotka made eight appearances at the start of the season and then went on to make his Bundesliga debut against SC Freiburg on matchday 24. The Poland U21 international has since become first choice in goal and has only missed one league game. The Duisburg-born keeper suffered a broken nose and concussion in the game against Borussia Dortmund last Saturday (14 May). It remains to be seen whether he will be available for tomorrow’s Bundesliga play-off against Hamburg SV (19 May).
Newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg will begin the 2026/27 season as Bundesliga club number 59. The Saarland club start their first Bundesliga campaign at home to the Werkself on Saturday, 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST) at the URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde, which is currently being rebuilt. For one Leverkusen player in the ‘Elv’ line-up, the clash will be a special reunion. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
The fixture details for the Bayer 04 Women’s first match in the 2026/27 DFB Pokal has been confirmed: As announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning, the Leverkusen Women will face second-tier side FC Viktoria Berlin in the first round on Sunday 27 September at 14:00 CEST.
Show more
Once again, well over 100 Werkself fans were delighted to receive an invitation from the club’s record appearance-maker, Rüdiger Vollborn, to the sold-out Schwadbud at the BayArena. This time, the supporters listened as the club historian provided fascinating, exclusive insights into the period from Bayer 04 being founded in 1904 to the club’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979. A journey through time is also planned for the upcoming ‘Rudi lädt ein’ event in early November – this time focusing on the years of the Nazi regime.
Show more
Getting in the mood for the new season together, exchanging ideas and looking ahead to the coming months: Bayer 04 welcomed partners to the BayArena for the annual sponsors season-launch event. In a relaxed atmosphere, the management, head coach and players came together with representatives from partner companies to celebrate the start of the 2026/27 season.
Show more
