"Perhaps it's time for a surprise as Leverkusen are always good for that. There’s a chance to upset Bayern," said Ottmar Hitzfeld to the Bild Zeitung ahead of the top Bundesliga match between Bayern Munich and the Werkself on Saturday 5 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET) at the Allianz Arena.
A key role is played by Bayer 04 head coach Gerardo Seoane, who Hitzfeld described as one of his role models. The 73-year-old on the Swiss coach: "Gerardo Seoane impresses me with his style of leadership. I like his human approach. He always comes over in interviews as objective and calm. You can read a lot between the lines with him. He places great value on communication. You can see a strong bond in the Leverkusen team. That's down to the coach." Hitzfeld's comments in full HERE.
Isaiah Okafor, a winter signing for the Leverkusen U17 team has been called up to the Switzerland U17 squad. The central midfielder will join up with the Swiss youth players at a training camp in Tenero on Largo Maggiore from 15 to 18 March. The squad will then be reduced from 28 to 20 players who will travel on to the elite round held in Silkeborg in Denmark. That will determine which teams progress to the 2022 U17 European Championships in Israel. Switzerland are in qualification group two along with Latvia, Sweden and Denmark.
At the age of 16, Marcel Lotka joined the Bayer 04 U17 squad from Rot-Weiss Essen. The 6 foot 2 goalkeeper spent three years at the Black and Reds, where he played for the youth teams and trained with the senior squad. Lotka was in goal for all four group matches in the UEFA Youth League in 2019/20.
The 20-year-old finally moved up to the senior level in the summer of 2020 when he joined the Hertha Berlin second team. Since then, the former Leverkusen keeper has regularly played in the Regional League North-east – and he recently made his Bundesliga debut. The Duisburg-born goalkeeper produced a decent performance in the 3-0 defeat for the Berliners at SC Freiburg. Just a few days later, Borussia Dortmund announced the signing of Lotka on a contract to 2024 with the plan to play him in the BVB U23 team in the third division.
Stefan Kießling is definitely one of the greatest and most successful Werkself players ever – as this number demonstrates: The centre-forward can look back at over 400 Bundesliga appearances. And he broke that barrier 04 years ago today.
The Bayer 04 honorary captain came on as a substitute for Julian Baumgartlinger on 88 minutes in the 2-1 away win against VfL Wolfsburg. Kießling went on to play another three games for the Black and Reds in the top flight. The current first-team squad coordinator made his last appearance on the final day of the season in 2017/18 in a 3-2 home win against Hanover 96 on matchday 34.
After being nominated for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025, Martin Terrier's wonderful strike for the opener against FC Köln is now also up for selection for the ARD Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2025. Bayer 04 fans have until 19:00 CET on 10 January to vote for the French forward.
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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 personalised 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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"In every ending lies a new beginning" is a well-known saying. This phrase has probably never been more apt at Bayer 04. After winning the Bundesliga in 2023/24 and finishing as runners-up in 2024/25, the summer was the most eventful ever in terms of transfers. Over ten players and the coach, including the coaching staff, left the club. A lot of the heroes of the double-winning side began a new chapter. It was the end of an era. And at the same time the beginning of a new, very exciting and promising chapter for Leverkusen. The Werkself welcomed more than a dozen new arrivals, including experienced title-winners and young talents, to build a new "foundation for a successful team capable of winning titles" under the Bayer Cross, as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. A new spirit, a new hunger, a new story was to be created. Bayer04.de looks back at the first few months of this story and the final act of the preseason.
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43 points at the end of the last Bundesliga season were not only more than ever before for the Bayer 04 Women, but also led to a record fourth-place finish. That was followed by a Hinrunde with many more victories, but also some setbacks. In an interview with bayer04.de, sporting director Achim Feifel takes stock at the end of the year.
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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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