"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.
The Werkself consolidated their position among the top teams in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga thanks to a last-minute goal on Wednesday evening. Roberto Pätzold’s team beat Hamburger SV 2-1 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Kristin Kögel (14’) and Caroline Kehrer (90’+5) scored for Bayer 04. The result takes Bayer 04 Women onto 19 points, third in the table behind top two Bayern Munich (25) and VfL Wolfsburg (22).
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One Bayer 04 player in particular is looking forward to the Werkself’s Champions League match away at Benfica on Wednesday 5 November (kick-off at 21:00 CET). Alejandro Grimaldo returns to his old stomping ground for the first time since he joined Bayer 04 two years ago. He encounters a Portuguese side that are unbeaten in the domestic league but under pressure in the UEFA Champions League having not taken any points, even under new coach José Mourinho. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in Lisbon.
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For the first time this season, the Bayer Leverkusen U19s were beaten in the UEFA Youth League. After two wins and a draw, Bayer 04 lost 5-0 at Benfica on matchday 4. The goals for the home side were scored by Goncalo Moreira (9’, 40’) and Francisco Silva (43’) in the first half. After the restart, Eduardo Fernandes (48’) and Gil Neves (55’) completed the scoring.
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He is the best example of how far successful and professional youth development can go: Kai Havertz joined Bayer 04 from Alemannia Aachen at the age of eleven. At 17, the Germany international made his first appearance for the senior team, graduated from high school in Leverkusen and is still the youngest player ever to make one hundred appearances in the Bundesliga. From London, where he plays for top club Arsenal, Havertz is closely following the discussion about the Bayer 04 Campus and, like more than 11,000 other supporters, has signed the petition launched by Bayer 04 fans from Monheim am Rhein.
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