He certainly deserves it: Patrik Schick is in the vote for the Bundesliga Player of the Month award for December. The Bayer 04 centre forward scored a remarkable eight goals in four Bundesliga matches including the 7-1 victory over SpVgg Greuther Fürth when he became the first Werkself player to score four goals in a match in Germany's top flight. You can vote for Patrik HERE.
In addition to Schick, the other nominees are Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry (both Bayern Munich), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig), Jesper Lindström (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Nico Schlotterbeck (SC Freiburg).
Florian Wirtz won the Player of the Month award in September.
And the Werkself striker Patrik Schick could also get his hands on the 2021 FIFA Puskas Award in the next few weeks. The 25-year-old is one of three finalists for his goal from 45 yards out in the European Championship match against Scotland on 14 June. Also nominated are the Argentinian forward Erik Lamela (Sevilla) and the Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi (FC Porto).
The trophy is awarded for the most beautiful goal in the calendar year and the winner will be announced in Zurich on 17 January. The current award winner for 2020 is the former Leverkusen player Heung-Min Son who joined Tottenham Hotspur from Bayer 04 in 2015.
The winner is chosen by an international panel consisting of a group of FIFA legends plus fans from across the world registered on FIFA.com. The votes of these two groups carry equal weight.
Patrik Schick has already secured a club award: Werkself fans voted his goal in the 2-2 draw with TSG Hoffenheim in the final home game of the year in 2021 as the Goal of the Month for December presented by like2drive. The Czech Republic striker made it 2-0 on 63 minutes with an impressive header from 12 yards out. Congratulations, Patrik. You can see that goal again here HERE.
After Amine Adli on Monday and Timothy Fosu-Mensah on Tuesday, Piero Hincapie was also on the training ground at the BayArena for the first time this year on Wednesday. The defender returned from his home country of Ecuador yesterday evening after having been forced to self-isolate due to a positive Covid-19 test.
Under the direction of fitness coach Daniel Jouvin, Hincapie completed an individual session along with Adli and Fosu-Mensah. The other Werkself players had Wednesday off after two intensive days of training. The first match of the New Year is on Saturday, 8 January (kick-off: 15.30 CET) against Union Berlin at the BayArena.
Thomas Kleine and second division Fortuna Düsseldorf have mutually agreed the termination of his contract. The former Bayer 04 player, who made 22 appearances for the Werkself as well as 95 for the Black and Red second team, had been the assistant coach at Fortuna since 2017. Kleine’s successor at Düsseldorf is Manfred Stefes. The 54-year-old last worked alongside Lucien Favre at Borussia Dortmund up to December 2020.
The Werkself congratulate Atakan Akkaynak on his 23rd birthday. The Troisdorf-born player of Turkish heritage joined Leverkusen in 2006 from TuS 07 Oberlar. He won the German U17 league title in 2016 and played in all the Black and Red youth teams up to 2018. The midfielder was then signed by the Dutch top-flight club Willem II Tilburg. After spells at Caykur Rizespor in Turkey and Türkgücü Munich, the former U19 international has been playing for Corum FK in the Turkish third division this season. Many happy returns from Bayer 04.
The Werkself host Premier League club Arsenal in the Round of 16 first leg in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. The match at the BayArena is on 10/11 March. Read on for information on ticket sales for this fixture.
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The draw for the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 was made today, Friday 27 February: Bayer 04 face Premier League leaders Arsenal. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes sees the English team as a "top opponent" and is looking forward to meeting former Werkself players Kai Havertz and Piero Hincapie again.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without Spanish player Lucas Vázquez for the time being. The experienced full-back and winger suffered an injury to his right calf during the Werkself's Champions League match against Olympiacos (0-0) on Tuesday.
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A goalkeeping era is coming to an end for Bayer 04 Women, with Friederike Repohl retiring when her contract expires at the end of the season. The 31-year-old has played for the Werkself since 2021 and also captained the team since last season. The Bielefeld-born keeper already made her decision during the winter break before her injury.
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Job done: the Bayer 04 eSports team defeated SV Darmstadt 98 in the play-offs to secure their consecutive participation in the VBL Club Championship final. The journey continues now for Leverkusen on Saturday 7 March (from 17:00 CET) with a last-16 encounter at Hamburger SV.
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