News in brief: Wirtz in top ten U21 talents worldwide

He was already the Bundesliga Player of the Month, could be the North Rhine-Westphalia Player of the Year – and since this week is one of the best U21 players in the world: Florian Wirtz. The 18-year-old playmaker with the Werkself finished in an impressive seventh place in the Kopa Trophy awards from the French sports newspaper France Football.

The Spanish player Pedri was presented as the winner at the Ballon d'Or awards. The Barcelona striker follows on from Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus) who won the trophy in 2019.

Wirtz: less Training – but top performances

Florian Wirtz dropped out late on for the away game in Berlin (1-1) at the start of November due to hip problems and he then went on to take a ten-day break from training. "That did him good," said head coach Gerardo Seoane. "We are glad that was possible."

A decision that has been positive with regard to the performances of the talented youngster. In the 1-0 win against VfL Bochum, our number 27 stood out with a lot of involvement in attacking moves. The 18-year-old then went on to demonstrate his effectiveness in the final third in the victories against Celtic (two assists from Wirtz) and at Leipzig (one goal).

What many people do not know was that the midfielder was not on the pitch with his teammates in between the games against Bochum and Celtic. Seoane: "We were extremely careful. It was important to reduce his workload as much as possible." Wirtz primarily completed individual sessions at the BayArena to spare his hip. "The issue isn't finished," the Swiss coach. "But it's positive that we have a week until the next game." There is confidence that Wirtz will be able to make it through to the winter break due to the reduced training programme.

25 years ago today: Sergio's goal of the month

Immediately after winning the DFB Cup, Bayer 04 signed a certain Paulo Sergio in the summer of 1993. Brought over from the Brazilian club Corinthians São Paulo, he remained with the Werkself for four years. The striker won the World Cup with Brazil in that time and made 121 Bundesliga appearances for the Werkself. He provided ten assists and scored an impressive 47 goals – one of those was voted Goal of the Month in November 1996.

Sergio scored on 66 minutes in the home game against FC Köln to make it 3-0 (final score 4-2). HERE is the goal from the Brazilian on video.

congratulations to UEFA Cup winner

Today's birthday boy Marcus Feinbier joined the Bayer 04 U19s in the summer of 1986 from his hometown of Berlin. The centre forward became a first-team player at the Werkself and won the UEFA Cup with the Black and Reds in 1988. Feinbier played 69 games in the Bundesliga for Leverkusen (three goals) before moving on to Hertha Berlin in 1992. Many happy returns on your 52nd birthday, Marcus.