The two Werkself youngsters Florian Wirtz and Lennart Grill are through to the final of the U21 European championship with the Germany U21s. The team under head coach Stefan Kuntz beat the Netherlands 2-1 in the semi-finals on Thursday. The man of the match on the night was Bayer 04 midfielder Wirtz who first set the record for the fastest goal in the history of the U21 European Championships with the opener on 29 seconds and then doubled his tally just seven minutes later with a clinical finish to make it 2-0.
Rudi Völler, Bayer 04 sporting managing director, revealed to BILD that he was impressed after the Wirtz gala performance: "The first goal opened up the game and set Florian on his way. And his trap and control of the ball were wonderful for the second goal. That's why he's already at such a high level at the age of 18."
Simon Rolfes also found positive words for the work rate of the 18-year-old: "Flo puts in an incredible amount of running in every game. Sometimes a lot of metres are in vain. But you have to make those runs," said the Bayer 04 sporting director. And from the ranks of the senior Germany team there was also compliments from an old friend for the youngster from Pulheim – former Werkself player and newly crowned Champions League winner Kai Havertz said Florian had produced an "outstanding performance."
By reaching the final, the two Bayer 04 players are following in the footsteps of Gonzalo Castro (2009) and Jonathan Tah (2019) who also reached the final of the U21 European Championship with Germany.
The Kuntz team play Portugal on Sunday, 6 June (kick-off: 21.00 CEST) after they knocked out Spain with a 1-0 victory in the other semi-final on Thursday night. Our number 27 is determined ahead of the final and he said he "wants to win the tournament as well."
Two Werkself players also met on the international stage on the South American continent today (Friday). In the qualifier for the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, Chile with Charles Aránguiz, who played for 86 minutes, faced Argentina. Exequiel Palacios came on for the two-time World Cup winners on 81 minutes – that was the comeback for our number 25 after recovering from a groin injury. The clash of the Bayer 04 midfielders ended all square at 1-1 with goals from Lionel Messi (24') and Alexis Sánchez (36'). Lucas Alario, who suffered a muscle injury in his right thigh in the season run-in with the Werkself, was not in the 'Albiceleste' squad.
The Bender brothers documentary - 'BENDER – Die Unzertrennlichen' – put out on Bayer 04 TV on 27 May has already proved to a complete success. Over 112,000 people have already watched the documentary homage to the two Werkself players Lars and Sven Bender, who hung up their boots at the end of the 2020/21 season, on YouTube.
There has also been recognition from other German clubs. 1860 Munich commented on the documentary on the Bayer 04 YouTube channel with the following words: "The documentary is a MUST for every Lions fan. Thank you Bayer 04!" And VfL Wolfsburg also showed their respect: "After the Havertz work, the next big step in terms of documentaries on club TV. You are setting the standards! Hats off!"
Anybody wishing to see the film again can watch the documentary HERE.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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Bayer 04’s eight opponents in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League have been confirmed. At the draw on Friday 28 August held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Werkself were drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots. There are a total of four home and four away matches. Read on for details of opponents and fixture dates.
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In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-3 loss at SV 07 Elversberg on Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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