For his move under the Cross, Josip Stanisic is leaving his birthplace and hometown Munich for the first time in his football career. "The team is packed with top players and I was really motivated by my talks with the club," said the defender. "There are clear ideas here and an exceptional environment. I'm really looking forward to the Werkself – for me they were one of the most exciting teams in the Bundesliga last season," the versatile defender explained in giving his reasons for the move to Leverkusen.
Stanisic took his first steps in football at the Munich club FC Perlach before joining the renowned academy at 1860 Munich at the age of nine. He stayed with the Lions for six years before joining SC Fürstenfeldbruck to the west of Munich. As a U17 player, Stanisic finally aroused interest of the biggest club in the Bavarian capital and he signed for Bayern Munich.
Despite injuries, Stanisic became an important player in the youth teams at the German record champions, trained with the now Bundesliga coach Sebastian Hoeneß in the U19s and he was a captain of the side in his second season.
He joined the FC Bayern second team for the 2019/20 season after they had been promoted to the third division. His coach Hoeneß went the same way and turned Stanisic from a central defensive player to a full-back.
In the late autumn of the following 2020/21 season, Stanisic had established himself as right-back with the FC Bayern second team and – with several players injured in the first team – he made his debut in the Bundesliga on 10 April 2021. Under the current Germany coach Hansi Flick, who was at the BayArena on Saturday for the Bundesliga match against RB Leipzig (3-2), Stanisic played the full 90 minutes against Union Berlin. However, that was his only appearance in the top-flight in 2021/22.
The following season he was part of the senior squad with good performances in training and games at the start of the season earning him a professional contract in November 2022 that ran to 2026. Stanisic played 13 games in the Bundesliga but he suffered muscular problems around the turn of the year. Last season he made 14 appearances in the top-flight as well as eight in the Champions League. He celebrated his third title win in succession with FC Bayern on the final matchday of the season.
At the international level, Stanisic, who has both German and Croatian nationality, opted for Germany in 2018 and he played two games for the Germany U19s. The Croatia Football Association became aware of Stanisic in the summer of 2021 after his regular appearances with FC Bayern – and they finally persuaded him to change his international team.
The first appearance for Croatia came in October 2021, almost a year later he played in the World Cup in Qatar. Croatia went out at the semi-final stage against the eventual winners Argentina including Bayer 04 player Exequiel Palacios. Now Stanisic and Palacios – at least at club level – will be on the pitch together.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Having previously recorded six consecutive home wins across all competitions, Bayer 04 suffered their first home defeat of 2026/27 as they went down 4-2 to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Matchday 8. The visitors capitalised on their first two chances to score, with Ermedin Demirovic and Jamie Leweling finding the net in the first half. Although Patrik Schick got a goal back in the first half, Bilal El Khannouss and Demirovic again added further goals for Stuttgart. Bayer 04 didn’t give up, but Ibrahim Maza’s goal proved little more than a consolation.
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Fans at the BayArena got to enjoy a spectacle on Wednesday as the Werkself came from behind to beat Nürnberg 5-2 in the DFB Pokal. Now with the sixth home game of the season, can Bayer 04 maintain their perfect record in Leverkusen as VfB Stuttgart come to town in the Bundesliga on Saturday (15:30 CET)? The visitors have had issues domestically this term, sitting in 15th place, although they have had much better results in the UEFA Champions League. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 8 encounter…
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The Bayern Munich women’s football team are unbeaten in all domestic competitions in the last 62 matches. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the Bayer 04 women’s team will make their next attempt to end the holders unbeaten run in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie. For coach Roberto Pätzold, there are a number of factors that give the Werkself cause for optimism despite the high-calibre opposition.
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