On behalf of Bayer 04, a small delegation made up of Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, sporting managing director Sport Simon Rolfes and midfielder Exequiel Palacios accepted the award in Hamburg. The World Cup winner and two-time Copa América winner, who is currently in rehab, travelled to Hamburg representing the whole team who are preparing for the DFB Pokal first round tie at FC Carl Zeiss Jena (Wednesday, 28 August, 18.00 CEST).
Talking about last season’s honours, Fernando Carro said: “They are not only very important for us but also all the fans who wanted the trophies so much.”
Simon Rolfes said: “The success was primarily down to our good team. A very good spirit has been created in the team and the club.” That’s always given us a special energy.”
Head coach Xabi Alonso joined a live link to the event. The 42-year-old spoke about the success of last season as follows: “The players are the most important part for me. We had a good mix of young and experienced players and a very good feeling from the start. Our target was to play good football and at some point we felt we had the chance to win the title. That season remains unforgettable for us all.”
In addition, Alonso explained why he decided to stay at the Werkself before the end of the season: “There’s great confidence in me here. This season is my third as a coach for a professional club. I had to show what I could do as a coach here. But I’ve also still got a lot to learn. I learn from players in every game and every training session. We’re starting from scratch now and we want to perform well again.”
In the presence of 600 guests from the world of sport, SportBILD presented awards in nine categories.
The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Just 11 days after their last encounter in the Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Women meet Hamburger SV again. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the two teams will be battling it out at the Volksparkstadion for a place in the DFB Cup quarter-finals. Coach Roberto Pätzold is aware of his team's status as favourites against the promoted outfit - and knows what it will come down to against the awkward opponents.
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Like they did in the first showdown of the VBL Club Championship by WOW, which the Leverkusen gamers won in spectacular style, Marc and Sean Landwehr also started the second showdown with six points by beating TSG Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum 1848, last-16 participants of the first showdown. The #B04eSports team suffered defeat to SV Darmstadt 98 and Hertha BSC. Meanwhile, Keanu Senkbeil made his VBL CC debut in the clash with the capital club.
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The Bayer 04 Women will end 2025 with the Bundesliga top match against Bayern Munich on Monday night, 22 December. The schedule for matchdays 12 to 15 has been announced by the German Football Association (DFB). In addition to two away games on Fridays, Leverkusen also have a home game on a Saturday lunchtime.
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