Kai Havertz, who married his long-term girlfriend Sophia a few weeks ago in Bergisch Gladbach, has been at the Gunners since the summer of 2023. The former Leverkusen player started with the Bayer 04 U13 squad, turned professional and won his first international cap here and then, after ten years under the Cross, he moved on to the Premier League in 2020 to play for Chelsea and he scored the winner in the Champions League final in 2022.
Havertz quickly became a key player at Arsenal. The offensive player scored 13 goals last season for the Premier League runners-up who were involved in an exciting three-way race for the league title alongside Liverpool and Manchester City. Arsenal finished second two points behind City and Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool were third.
Under coach Mikel Arteta, Arsenal had the best defence in the Premier League conceding just 29 goals in 38 games and they had the second best attack with 91 goals scored with Manchester City (96) top. The most prolific goalscorer for the Gunners was the England international Bukayo Saka with 16 ahead of Kai Havertz (13) and the Belgian Leandro Trossard (12).
Arsenal have strengthened their already outstanding defence built around the two central defenders William Saliba and Gabriel as well as goalkeeper David Raya who was in the winning Spain squad at Euro 2024: Riccardo Calafiori joined Arsenal from Bologna at the start of last week. The Italy international was one of the outstanding players in the Azzurri squad at the European Championships in Germany. Calafiori can play as a central defender as well as on the left side of defence and in holding midfield. The 22-year-old Roman not only stands out as a tough tackler but is also as a technically and tactically gifted player on the break with a great desire to get up the pitch.
Talking about the Euro 2024 shooting star, the target for a lot of top European clubs, Arsenal coach Arteta said: "He gives us additional strength to improve our defence. Riccardo has a big personality and a great character – and also specific skills to make us stronger on the way to winning trophies."
The Gunners' midfield is controlled by captain Martin Ödegaard, the England international Declan Rice and Jorginho, Calafiori’s teammate in the Azzurri line-up. Kai Havertz plays in attacking midfield or up front. In addition to the former Leverkusen player and the already mentioned Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard the two Brazilians Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli are also tasked with finding the back of the net. Arsenal may venture into the transfer market again in the next few weeks to strengthen the attack.
Ahead of the coming campaign, the club from North London went on a tour of the USA where they played two friendlies against Premier League rivals Manchester United and Liverpool. While Arsenal beat United 2-1, they lost by the same scoreline few days later in the match against Liverpool in front of a crowd of 69,879 at the Lincoln Financial Field. Kai Havertz scored the goal for the Gunners.
Coach Mikel Arteta, who ended his playing career at Arsenal in 2016, has been the head coach at the club since 2019. Before that, he was assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City for several years. Arteta and Bayer 04 coach Xabi Alonso know each other well. Both played together in the youth set-up at the Basque club Antiguoko and later for the Spain U21 side.
Last season, ahead of the quarter-final exit against Bayern Munich in the Champions League (2-2; 0-1) he congratulated his "good friend Xabi" and former player Granit Xhaka on winning the Bundesliga title. Xhaka played for the Gunners for seven years where he won the FA Cup twice and the Community Shield. Wednesday's match will be special for the Werkself midfield maestro.
Bayer 04 make their first trip to Poland for over 30 years as they face Lech Poznan on Matchday 2 of the league phase in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off at 18:45 CEST on Thursday, but the team will be preparing for the action on Wednesday with training, travel and pre-match press conferences. We’ll bring you all the latest news here…
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Bayer 04 remain unbeaten in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. After winning the opener against NK Celje, the Werkself followed that up on Thursday night with a 4–0 win away at the Polish champions Lech Poznan. Patrik Schick, who came on as a substitute early in the game, scored twice from the penalty spot, and Malik Tillman also found the back of the net before half-time. The second half was a more subdued affair, with Ibrahim Maza scoring late on to seal the final 4-0 scoreline.
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Since 2023, Bayer 04 has been organising regular free goalkeeping coach training sessions at the BayArena. As in previous years, the event attracted enormous interest in mid-October 2026. Around 140 participants – mostly goalkeeping coaches from the region, but also team and academy coaches as well as association staff – came to the Werkself stadium to gain expert knowledge on the subject of zonal marking. Through a theoretical keynote presentation and a practical session on the pitch, the participants gained insights into goalkeeping and goalkeeper training at Bayer 04.
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A first for the Werkself: Today, Thursday 15 October (kick-off: 18:45 CEST), Bayer 04 face Lech Poznan for the first time on matchday 2 in the UEFA Europa League group. Although the Black and Reds have a flawless record against the only Polish opposition faced before, they must not underestimate the attacking ability and goal-scoring threat of the reigning champions from Poznan. Lech’s squad also includes two former Bundesliga players. Today's matchday news.
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