Florian Wirtz celebrated his 18th birthday less than two weeks ago and the Werkself striker has now clocked up the next record in the Bundesliga. Our number 27 scored the first goal in the home game against Union Berlin and played a big part in the 1-1 draw. The opening goal at the BayArena was his sixth in the Bundesliga and Wirtz is the youngest player to score that number at the age of 18 years and 12 days. He takes over the mantle from Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala (18 years, 50 days). Carry on, Flo!
Following the final home game and the warm-down session on Sunday, the Werkself had the day off on Monday with only a couple volunteers on training pitch 1 in the morning. Up to the last game of the season on Saturday, 22 May (kick-off: 15.30 CEST) away to Borussia Dortmund, the squad under head coach Hannes Wolf will train every day. Charles Aránguiz and Co. will also spend the rest of their time at Bismarckstraße – as part of the quarantine training camps for all Bundesliga teams ordered by the DFL the Bayer 04 group will spend the final days of the 2020/21 season at the Lindner Hotel BayArena.
After the session on Friday morning, the Werkself will head off to the Ruhr region to the matchday hotel.
This week promises to be as emotional as the past few days. The Bender brothers Sven and Lars leave the German football stage at the end of the season as two exemplary players and personalities. Like the Werkself with the Europa League, the next opponents from Dortmund achieved their minimum target for the season at the weekend – the Black and Yellows will finish in the top four.
Two Werkself players will join the long-term absentees in missing the final match of the campaign: Nadiem Amiri and Edmond Tapsoba each picked up a fifth yellow card against FC Union Berlin. The suspension of central defender Tapsoba could give Sven Bender the chance to appear at his former in his last outing – possibly from the start. Head coach Wolf said: “It’s great that Sven’s last match is in Dortmund. But it’s also a great pity that there won’t be any fans there. Otherwise, we’d definitely experience something special there.”
Another successful campaign by Werkself fans. The day after the clash with Union Berlin, supporters were able to secure seats from Block C. Due to coronavirus regulations it was necessary to register with the Bayer 04 fan liaison office. They allocated individual time slots enabling fans to their seats from the BayArena in their cars.
The seats from the BayArena will adorn numerous gardens and cellar bars – and that includes far beyond the city boundary of Leverkusen. Fans travelled by car to collect their seats from Mainz, Heidelberg, Unna, Aachen and Essen. They all made donations to PalliLev hospice. A total of €7,000 was raised. A big thank you to everybody who joined in.
The penultimate weekend of the season also brought decisions in the Third Division. League leaders Dynamo Dresden secured promotion at the first attempt with a 4-0 home win against Türkgücü Munich. An important contribution to the return to second tier was due to two former Leverkusen players who are now members of the Dresden coaching staff.
Heiko Scholz, a Werkself player from 1992 to 1995, has been the assistant coach for the past 18 months. David Yelldell, at Bayer 04 from 2011 to 2016, has been the goalkeeping coach at Dresden since last summer – and he can celebrate both promotion and the least goals conceded by any third division team this term. Bayer 04 send their congratulations.
He came to Kurtekotten when he was 13 and progressed through the ranks to the first team: Fabian Giefer joined the Werkself senior squad in 2009 and he went on to make eight appearances in the following three years. He made another 85 for the second team and the U19s.
His career path took him via Düsseldorf, Schalke 04, Bristol City (England) and Augsburg to his current club Würzburger Kickers. Giefer made 13 appearances for bottom team in the second division. Fabian celebrated his 31st birthday on Monday. Many happy returns.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned U19 midfielder Jeremiah Mensah to Dutch second-tier side Roda JC Kerkrade for one year. The 18-year-old Germany youth international has a long-term contract at the club to 2031.
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Bayer 04 kick off the final phase of their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with a friendly against Premier League club Nottingham Forest. Head coach Carles Martínez’s team will take to the pitch at the City Ground today, Wednesday 12 August (kick-off: 8.45 pm/7.45 pm local time). Werkself-TV will broadcast the match live and in full exclusively for Bayer 04 members via livestream from 8.35 pm...
Villa Fiorito, River Plate, Ligue 1, the World Cup final and now Bayer 04: Facundo Medina’s life story so far has been shaped by special places, clubs, matches and names. One of them is Diego Maradona, who, like Medina, hailed from the south of Buenos Aires. Another is Exequiel Palacios, his former team-mate at River Plate, who was raving about Bayer 04 to him as recently as the World Cup in North America. Medina has now taken the plunge into the Bundesliga and, as an Argentine World Cup runner-up, has joined Bayer 04 from Olympique de Marseille this week. It is set to be the next successful chapter in his career. Leverkusen’s new number 2 brings with him a South American mentality and passion, a wealth of experience from many years in Ligue 1, and a fascinating story to the Rhineland – and to a club where the 1.84-metre-tall left-footed player will be reunited with Palacios and several other familiar faces.
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Shortly after signing his contract with Bayer 04, new signing Facundo Medina spoke to Werkself.tv about his first impressions of the club, his expectations and his conversations with his Argentine compatriot Exequiel Palacios. The defender also reveals what the fans can look forward to. Welcome to Leverkusen, Facu!
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Welcome back! On Tuesday morning, 11 August, Jarell Quansah and Exequiel Palacios – the last of the Werkself’s World Cup participants – returned to training. The two medallists and their team-mates are set to play their final two pre-season friendlies in England this week before the start of competitive fixtures.
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