
Paulinho and Co. played the Paraguay U23 side on Saturday 1 February as part of the fourth and final matchday in Group B. The Bayer 04 forward came off the bench on 68 minutes and made it 1-1 seven minutes later. The 19-year-old led the way for his team to win 2-1 with central striker Pepe (Gremio Porto Alegre) scoring the winner on 89 minutes.
The Brazilian youngsters picked up maximum points and the Argentina U23 team did likewise in the parallel group. The Colombia and Uruguay U23 teams finished second in the groups. These four teams now play each other from 4 to 10 February for the two places at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo that are allocated to the South American association CONMEBOL.
The Finn is at the top. Bayer 04 goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky pulled level with Yann Sommer (Borussia Mönchengladbach) on the last matchday – in the table of the goalkeepers with the highest marks according to the kicker sports journal. Hradecky and Sommer have an average mark of 2.73. In third place is Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer (2.80).
Moussa Diaby was really flying in the first month of the year. For his impressive performance in January, where the Frenchman scored one goal and provided two assists in three games, the Bayer 04 player has been nominated for the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month. In addition to the 20-year-old, Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) and Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) have also been nominated. Fans can cast their votes at www.rookie-award.com/de.
The ‘kicker meets DAZN - the football podcast’ is in its 22nd edition. Simon Rolfes, the former Werkself player and now sporting director at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, was the guest of presenters Alex Schlüter and Benni Zander last Wednesday at SPOBIS 2020. The 38-year-old talked about his time after ending his playing career, discussions with Rudi Völler and working as a TV pundit. The podcast is available on the kicker and DAZN websites as well as usual podcast platforms.
The Werkself play VfB Stuttgart in the DFB Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday 5 February. The kick-off at the BayArena is at 18.30 CET. Tickets are still available for the game. They are available online via the ticket web shop, by phone Bayer the service centre (0049 (0) 214 5000 1904) or by visiting the Bayer 04 fan shops.

Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
Show more
In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
Show more
Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
Show more
After matchday 31 and the 2-1 derby win in Cologne, one thing is certain: Bayer 04 will at least compete in the UEFA Europa League in the coming 2026/27 campaign. But the Werkself want more. Looking at the race for Champions League qualification and the remaining three league fixtures, including against direct rivals, bayer04.de outlines the possible scenarios in the season run-in.
Show more
This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
Show more