The blonde forward was up and down the wings for 73 minutes before making way for Kai Havertz. On 48 minutes, the Pinneberg-born player, signed from the FC St Pauli youth team in 2016 (50 U19 appearances, 14 goals) plus two recent U 20 international caps for Germany (one goal), had the first chance in the second half but his shot from a tight angle landed just the wrong side of the post. "Sam had a very decent performance," praised Heiko Herrlich after the youngster's first appearance.
And the meeting with Ludogorets was also special for two other players: Ramazan 'Rambo' Özcan was in goal in a Europa League match for the first time. For that reason, the 34-year-old Austrian secured the match ball after the final whistle. Lars Bender (introduced on 63 minutes) made his 50th appearance on the European stage last night – 28 games in the Champions League and 22 in the Europa League. The Werkself skipper has worn the Bayer 04 shirt in all his European matches.
There was a tragic conclusion to the first game of the season for Panagiotis Retsos. The 20-year-old, who suffered a broken hand and a torn right thigh ligament in the pre-season, made his comeback against Ludogorets. Unfortunately, the central defender suffered an injury in a challenge on the half-hour mark and he had to go off with a suspected muscle injury – the exact extent of the injury will be revealed with an MRI scan today.
The Werkself consolidated their position among the top teams in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga thanks to a last-minute goal on Wednesday evening. Roberto Pätzold’s team beat Hamburger SV 2-1 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Kristin Kögel (14’) and Caroline Kehrer (90’+5) scored for Bayer 04. The result takes Bayer 04 Women onto 19 points, third in the table behind top two Bayern Munich (25) and VfL Wolfsburg (22).
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One Bayer 04 player in particular is looking forward to the Werkself’s Champions League match away at Benfica on Wednesday 5 November (kick-off at 21:00 CET). Alejandro Grimaldo returns to his old stomping ground for the first time since he joined Bayer 04 two years ago. He encounters a Portuguese side that are unbeaten in the domestic league but under pressure in the UEFA Champions League having not taken any points, even under new coach José Mourinho. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in Lisbon.
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For the first time this season, the Bayer Leverkusen U19s were beaten in the UEFA Youth League. After two wins and a draw, Bayer 04 lost 5-0 at Benfica on matchday 4. The goals for the home side were scored by Goncalo Moreira (9’, 40’) and Francisco Silva (43’) in the first half. After the restart, Eduardo Fernandes (48’) and Gil Neves (55’) completed the scoring.
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He is the best example of how far successful and professional youth development can go: Kai Havertz joined Bayer 04 from Alemannia Aachen at the age of eleven. At 17, the Germany international made his first appearance for the senior team, graduated from high school in Leverkusen and is still the youngest player ever to make one hundred appearances in the Bundesliga. From London, where he plays for top club Arsenal, Havertz is closely following the discussion about the Bayer 04 Campus and, like more than 11,000 other supporters, has signed the petition launched by Bayer 04 fans from Monheim am Rhein.
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