Werkself players Florian Wirtz and Jonathan Tah were included in the kicker Team of Matchday 19 following the 2-1 win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Wirtz was chosen for the third time this season and he received a high mark of 1.5. Central defender Tah received a mark of 2 from the football journal.
But that's not all: Wirtz' performance earned two other plaudits. BILD included the youngster in their Team of the Matchday. The 18-year-old was also voted Man of the Match on social media by fans of the Seoane team.
Midfield dynamo Robert Andrich earned a place in the DFL Team of the Week. The Bayer 04 number eight put in the most running in the away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach with a total distance covered of 11.5 kilometres and he also scored his third Bundesliga goal for the Black and Reds. Congratulations.
Do you think our youngster has earned a place in the FIFA Team of the Year (TOTY) with his performances to date? Then help Florian Wirtz to be in the team of the eleven best players in 2021 before the vote closes on Tuesday. Click HERE to vote.
The Leverkusen player is one of 80 from around the world nominated for the vote by the video game manufacturer EA Sports. The final TOTY will be announced on 22 January.
The Ivory Coast have missed the chance to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations Round of 16 with a game to spare. Following the 1-0 win against Equatorial Guinea in their first match the Ivorians could only manage to draw 2-2 with Sierra Leone. Werkself central defender Odilon Kossounou replaced Eric Bailly (Manchester United) in added time.
As league leaders in Group E, the Ivory Coast still have qualification for the knockout stages in their own hands. On the third and final matchday, they play bottom of the group Algeria who only have one point and have yet to score. The match on Thursday, 20 January, kicks off at 17.00 CET. The streaming service DAZN will broadcast the match live.
Former goalkeeper René Adler (at Bayer 04 from 2000 to 2012) has joined the app sector and he wants to revolutionise the transfer market in football. The 37-year-old discusses this in the new episode of the podcast 'kicker meets DAZN'. In addition, Adler talks about non-independent players and his own eventful career that included 138 Bundesliga matches in a Werkself shirt. The episode is available from today on all usual podcast platforms.
Klaus Täuber, one of the UEFA Cup winners of 1988, today celebrates his 64th birthday. The former centre forward joined Leverkusen from Schalke 04 the summer before and he went on to make 31 Bundesliga appearances for the Black and Reds (eight goals, one assist). Many happy returns.
Maximilian Wagener is 27 years old today. The central midfielder join the Werkself junior section at the age of eight and he made it into the senior squad at Bayer 04 eleven years later in the summer of 2014. After various loan deals, Wagener signed permanently for SG Wattenscheid 09 in 2016 and today he plays in the Lower Rhine Oberliga with VfB Hilden. All the best.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with U19 midfielder Jonah Berghoff ahead of schedule. The Germany U18 international has signed professional terms with the club to 30 June 2030.
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With sixth place at the end of the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign, Bayer 04 ended a season in the top third of the table for the ninth time in a row. While the Werkself were narrowly eliminated in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 by eventual finalists Arsenal, the Black and Reds reached the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal for the third season in succession. As in previous years, you once again have the opportunity to vote for your Player of the Season. Voting is exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members and only via the Bayer 04 app up to and including 11 June.
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With 46 points in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga, the Bayer 04 Women’s team once again broke the previous season's club record and ended up in fifth place - 15 wins is also a record. As in previous years, you now have the opportunity to vote for your Player of the Season. Voting is open exclusively to Bayer 04 Club members and only via the Bayer 04 app by 11 June.
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The guests at the Scala Club in Leverkusen were amazed when host Reiner Calmund suddenly brought the Managing Director of Sport at Bayer 04, Simon Rolfes, and record Werkself appearance maker Rüdiger Vollborn onto the stage. As part of the show "An Evening with Football & Friends", organised by long-serving Bayer 04 managing director and general manager Calmund, the two surprise guests drew plenty of applause - and provided great entertainment in exciting conversations about the past and future.
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