
He is the September Bundesliga Player of the Month, is on the short list for the Golden Boy 2021 – and can now also be voted the North Rhine Westphalia Player of the Year for 2021: Werkself youngster Florian Wirtz. In addition to the 18-year-old from Leverkusen, Simon Terodde (FC Schalke 04), Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund), Simon Zoller (VfL Bochum) and Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach) have also been nominated.
Athletes from North Rhine Westphalia are feted with the Felix Champions Award that, in addition to their sporting performances, also highlights their commitment, fair play and their personality. The prize is also awarded in six other categories including the best team plus the best female athlete and best male athlete. The trophies will be presented in Düsseldorf on 10 December.
The vote is open until 30 November. You can vote for Flo now HERE.
Looking forward to Wednesday's DFB Cup tie against Karlsruher SC on Wednesday, 27 October (kick-off: 18.30 CEST/stadium opens: 16.30 CEST), the Werkself player Nadiem Amiri shared his views in an interview on dfb.de. The midfielder talked about the importance of the competition as well as the unique attraction of a DFB Cup final.
Amiri has a lot of memories of KSC from his time as a youth player at SV Waldhof Mannheim and at TSG Hoffenheim: "There was always a big rivalry and they were always hard-fought games against KSC. I'm happy about the draw and the tie." The full interview is available HERE.
If there is a victory on Wednesday then the Bayer 04 player has two reasons to celebrate: The day of the second round tie is his 25th birthday.
The dates are out: The #B04eSports team open their fourth season in the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) against the Storks of Holstein Kiel. The match is on Tuesday, 9 November from 18.00 CET. Following that match at 20.00 CET there is the second encounter with the Schalke 04 team. In the last match of this year there is a virtual derby against FC Köln. The season finale against Borussia Mönchengladbach is set for 1 March.
All the matches are on Tuesdays at 18.00 and 20.00 CET. In addition, all the games involving Leverkusen eSports players will be broadcast on the club's Twitch channel.

Bayer 04 midfielder Ibrahim Maza was honoured in Paris in the Best Algerian Young Player category at the Fennec d'Or awards for the Algerian Footballer of the Year, organised for the first time by the football journal La Gazette du Fennec. "It's an honour for me," said the 19-year-old, delighted with the award.
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On the back of two wins within four days, Bayer 04 Women round off an intensive Bundesliga week in the Black Forest. Roberto Pätzold's side have the chance to move back up to third place against SC Freiburg in the final fixture of Matchday 10 on Monday (18:00 CET) and draw level on points with second-placed VfL Wolfsburg.
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The last international break of this calendar year features the final qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. An overview of who's playing where and when from a Leverkusen point of view.
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Never before have Bayer 04 led 4-0 so early in the Bundesliga, never before have they won a Bundesliga home match by a higher margin. Leverkusen's exhibition display against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 produced many stories, records and debuts. While Kasper Hjulmand's side celebrated the rousing performance properly with the fans, Jonas Hofmann and Co aren't losing focus: "We have to be careful that we don't just praise ourselves. The games come thick and fast again after the international break." The Werkself Review has all the reaction and analysis of the 6-0 victory at the BayArena.
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