
They are the poster boys of Germany's top flight and week by week provide football fans across the whole of Germany with reasons to celebrate and also be frustrated: the Stars of the Bundesliga. The TV broadcaster Sky is running a short documentary series of the same name. A player is profiled in each episode and this week’s programme focuses on Werkself playmaker Florian Wirtz.
The 18-year-old became the youngest Bundesliga player to clock up 50 appearances a few weeks ago, he won the Fritz Walter gold-medal in 2020 and, at the age of 17 years and 24 days, he remains the second youngest Bundesliga goalscorer of all time. The profile of our number 27 will be broadcast this Thursday from 21.00 on Sky Sport Bundesliga 1.
The Thursday morning training session for the Werkself was watched by a familiar face from European football: Kaspar Hjulmand, head coach of the Denmark team since August 2020, attended the session at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium in the company of Keld Bordinggaard. The head of the coaching academy at Bayer 04 was Hjulmand's assistant coach at Mainz 05 from July 2014 to February 2015.

What do you miss most about Ecuador? Who was your football hero during your childhood? How do you most like spending your free time? And what's the correct pronunciation of your name? 04 questions from Werkself fans were recently put to our young defender Piero Hincapie. HERE is the video.
In part six of the 'NACHGEFRAGT' questions on YouTube, Werkself players answer the question of which is the best stadium they have played in to date. The answers from Florian Wirtz and Co. are HERE.

Former Bundesliga and Germany keeper Manfred Manglitz, who was promoted to the Oberliga West with Bayer 04 in 1962, passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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Following the summer break of around two months, the Bayer 04 first team squad took to the training pitches at the BayArena for the first time on Tuesday – and the players were in high spirits. Alongside the newly formed coaching team led by head coach Carles Martínez, new signing Afonso Moreira also completed his first session with the squad. In front of several hundred Bayer 04 fans at the open session, numerous Werkself players worked up a good sweat. The Leverkusen players who took part in the World Cup will join pre-season training at a later date.
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In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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