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.
The penultimate Bundesliga matchday of the calendar year marks the end of an eventful first half of the season for the Bayer 04 Women. After seven wins, one draw and four defeats from the first twelve games of the season, coach Roberto Pätzold's team can go above Werder Bremen in the table with a win on Friday, 12 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET).
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The third showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 kicks off for the Leverkusen eSports team this Thursday, 11 December (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Red will once again take on six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round, which will take place at this third showdown on 19 December in Cologne. Showdown One winners Bayer 04 will face FC St. Pauli, who won the second showdown last month, among others. The lowdown on first three opponents in this online preliminary round.
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Alejandro Grimaldo, of course! With his late equaliser (88') in the Champions League clash against Newcastle United, the Spaniard rescued a point for the Werkself, who took the lead through an own goal by Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes (13') but went with two goals for the visitors scored by Anthony Gordon (51') and Lewis Miley (74'). It was the third draw for Bayer 04 in the current 2025/26 campaign on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase.
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The Werkself will be looking to continue their run in the Champions League against Newcastle United on Wednesday, 10 December (kick-off: 21:00 CET). The two victories without conceding a goal at Benfica (1:0) and Manchester City (2-0) will hopefully be followed by a win at home at the BayArena. Against the English side, who have a player with a Black and Red past in their ranks, the way to victory could be through efficiency in attack and quick transitional play. The latter in particular has recently caused the Magpies problems away from home on the European stage. Fans can also get the stylish matchday sticker for their Sound of Dreams tour pass at the Bayer 04 Fanwelt. The matchday news.
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For the first time ever, Bayer 04 have reached the knockout phase of the UEFA Youth League. At the end of the league phase, the Leverkusen U19s secured a 2-1 home win against Newcastle United on Wednesday, 10 December. Montrell Culbreath scored before half-time and Ferdinand Pohl doubled the lead after the restart in the clash with the English side. The UCL youth competition continues at the beginning of February with the Round of 32, which will be played away from home without a second leg.
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