Two are better than one: Werkself youngster Florian Wirtz and his sister Juliane Wirtz are in the latest edition (number 243) of the football magazine 11Freunde. The siblings are not just on the cover of the magazine but they also share their views in a double interview over several pages.
The article reveals their joint first experiences with the ball at their feet. And they explain how their competition with each other has shaped them: "We used to play together in a small area in the living room and that gave us a certain grit."
Andrey Lunev sends greetings from hospital after undergoing his operation: The Bayer 04 goalkeeper underwent a successful procedure led by Dr. André Morawe in his Atos Orthoparc Klinik. HERE is the Tweet.
The Russian goalkeeper suffered a torn ankle ligament in training on Sunday and he is likely to be out of action for three months. The 30-year-old will complete his rehab at the Werkstatt in the BayArena. Here's to a swift and full recovery, Andrey.
His Leverkusen teammate Edmond Tapsoba has led the way with Burkina Faso and now it's down to Odilon Kossounou and Co. to follow suit: The Werkself central defender is looking to go through to the knockout stages with the Ivory Coast. A draw against bottom-placed Algeria in the third and final game in Group E on Thursday 20 January (kick-off: 17.00 CET) will be good enough to go through.
The Ivorians are the top of the table with four points from two games. The following two teams Equatorial Guinea (three points) and Sierra Leone (two) face each other and a point for the Ivory Coast would mean only one of the two other teams could overtake Kossounou and Co.
To mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day on 27 January, the Werkself will again take part in the ' memorial day in German football'. That day is the 77th anniversary of the liberation of survivors from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Bayer 04 is highlighting the event as part of the forthcoming home game against FC Augsburg on Saturday, 22 January. Together with the ‘!NieWieder’ group and the global remembrance campaign #WeRemember of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), not only will victims of the Nazis be remembered but it will also serve as a warning against current dangerous developments in society.
In addition to the DFL and clubs from the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2, the Federal Chancellery, the EU Parliament, the German Bundestag and numerous artists will take part in the memorial event with a wide range of activities.
Jürgen ‘Gelle’ Gelsdorf was first involved with the Werkself in the summer of 1976. He joined Bayer 04 as a player from Arminia Bielefeld. Gelle probably couldn't have imagined at the time that the move would be the start of ten years for the central defender in a Black and Red shirt. He went on to gain promotion to the Bundesliga with the Werkself and he made an impressive 313 appearances (26 goals) with the Bayer Cross on his shirt.
Gelsdorf joined the coaching staff at Leverkusen after ending his playing career in 1986 – first in the youth section and then with the first team. The Duisburg-born coach then moved on before returning to Bayer 04 and 2005. He has worked almost 15 years at Leverkusen and today he celebrates his 69th birthday. Many happy returns, Gelle.
Jonas Boldt also celebrates his birthday on 19 January – all the best for number 40. Born in Nuremberg, he started at Bayer 04 as a scout in 2007 and in 2014 he became the sporting manager. Boldt was sporting director in 2018/19 before joining Hamburg SV in the summer of 2019 as the sporting director. On Tuesday night, he celebrated going through to the DFB Cup quarter-finals with the second division club – HSV beat FC Köln on penalties. Happy birthday, Jonas.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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