A great honour for Adam Hlozek: The 20-year-old has been nominated for the Bundesliga vote for Rookie of the Month alongside Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Jakub Kaminski (VfL Wolfsburg).
Black and Red fans have until Thursday 24 November at 23.59 CET to vote for the Werkself number 23 as #BLRookie of the Month. You can vote HERE. The final result is determined as follows: 40% of the votes come from fans, and 30% each from the 18 Bundesliga team captains as well as a group of pundits.
Adam Hlozek joined the Werkself from top Czech club Sparta Prague in the summer of 2022 and he has been directly involved in five goals in 20 games for Bayer 04 this season. Hlozek scored his first Bundesliga goal in the month of November.
Piero Hincapie and Ecuador have made a winning start to the World Cup: The Werkself player was in the line-up for the 2-0 win in the opening match against hosts Qatar. Ecuador star striker Enner Valencia netted a brace (16', 31') on Sunday evening after having a strike on three minutes ruled out for offside. Hincapie played the full 90 minutes and helped his team keep a clean sheet. Ecuador are next in action in Group A against the Netherlands with Bayer 04 player Jeremie Frimpong (25 November 17.00 CET). The last match in the group against Senegal is four days later with the kick-off at 16.00 CET.
Sardar Azmoun was the second Leverkusen player to start the World Cup today Monday afternoon. The striker with Iran was on the wrong end of a 6-2 scoreline against England. Azmoun, who has not played since the end of September due to a muscle problem, came off the bench on 77 minutes with the score at 5-1 and he hit the bar eight minutes into added time.
Jeremie Frimpong and the Netherlands play their opening match against Senegal today at 17.00 CET, Exequiel Palacios and Argentina are involved in their opening game against Saudi Arabia tomorrow morning at 11.00.
A former Werkself head coach celebrates his birthday today: Peter Bosz is 59 years old – many happy returns. The Dutch coach came to Leverkusen at the end of December 2018. Up to his departure in March 2021, he coached Bayer 04 in 108 games picking up an average of 1.79 points per match. Bosz was in the dugout at the French club Lyon up to a month ago.
Sandwiched between their UEFA Champions League knockout play-off tie against Olympiacos, Bayer 04 return to Bundesliga action on Saturday with a trip to Union Berlin (kick-off: 15:30 CET). It’s a fixture of contrasting styles, with Leverkusen preferring to control the play while Union look to remain compact and counter. The Berliners are therefore suited to facing top teams, but they have only ever managed to win one of 16 meetings with the Werkself, who are looking for a fifth clean sheet of 2026 but will need to beware the home side’s threat from set pieces. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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After six wins in seven games, the Werkself will be looking to continue their winning run in the capital at FC Union Berlin. Coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke ahead of the match on Saturday, 21 February (kick-off: 15:30 CET) about defenders, the short preparation time and the condition of the pitch at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
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Union Berlin have performed particularly well against the top clubs in the Bundesliga this season with a draw at home to Bayern Munich and wins against VfB Stuttgart and RB Leipzig. This Saturday, 21 February (kick-off: 15:30 CET), the Irons now welcome the Werkself, currently sixth in the table, to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. And the hosts are in desperate need of a win. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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It took exactly 60 minutes for the Werkself to take the lead through a perfectly finished counter-attack by Patrik Schick in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off at Olympiacos. Referring to the meeting in the league phase and the initially squandered opportunities, coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: "I thought: 'Oh no, déjà-vu.'" But after the opening goal, it took just 144 seconds for the Czech to spark more wild celebrations among those in black and red in the Greek cauldron, when Schick nodded in Alejandro Grimaldo's corner. Much to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans, his teammates and his coach, who had warm words for the striker in the aftermath. The Werkself Review.
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