
Fair play is very much a watchword in the Bundesliga. Time and again, players, clubs, fans and officialsdisplay terrific sportsmanship. Together with former Germany captain Philipp Lahm, six moments have been selected from all the fair play incidents of the season and you can now vote for your favourite one.
The following moment has been nominated featuring Florian Wirtz: In the Bundesliga game against SC Freiburg in December last year, one of his shots was deflected and hit a steward on the head. Wirtz then leapt over the advertising hoarding and rushed towards the man, who was sitting behind the visitors' goal. The Germany international enquired anxiously about the steward's condition and offered him some words of comfort. The man had been sitting with his back to the pitch so hadn't seen the ball coming.
In addition to Wirtz, SV Darmstadt 98, Lewis Holtby (Holstein Kiel), Raphaël Guerreiro (FC Bayern München), Maximilian Wittek and fans (VfL Bochum 1848) and SC Freiburg are also on the ballot.
The winner of the ‘Fair Play of the Season’ award is ultimately decided by a jury. Similar to the monthly ‘Player of the Month’ and ‘Rookie of the Month’ polls, the jury is made up of fans (weighting: 40 per cent), the 18 team captains and various experts (30 per cent each).

Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
Show more
Following on from the emotional last-minute win at Union Berlin, the Bayer 04 Women now face a promoted team: On Saturday, 31 January (12:00 CET), coach Roberto Pätzold's team welcome FC Nürnberg to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for their first home game of the new year. In their second season in the Bundesliga, the Franconians have impressed with 16 points from the first 15 games.
Show more
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with Germany U19 international Montrell Culbreath. The attacking midfielder and right winger has penned a deal with the Bundesliga club that runs to 30 June 2030. Culbreath has played for the Werkself as a youth player since 2023. Last December, he scored his first Bundesliga goal for the Leverkusen first team in the Bayer 04 3-1 away win at RB Leipzig.
Show more
The Werkself's 3-0 victory over Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League certainly left many happy faces: Malik Tillman was delighted with his brace, Robert Andrich with the clean sheet and coach Kasper Hjulmand with the "manner" of this significant home win. With an overwhelming superiority and over 75 per cent possession at times, Bayer 04 deserved their place in the UCL play-off round. They will face a familiar foe in February. The Werkself review.
Show more