"We are very happy that Sven has decided to sign for us," said sporting director Rudi Völler. "He's an extraordinarily experienced and versatile player who has showed his class in central defence most recently at Dortmund. His quality and leadership ability will do a lot of good for our young team."
Head coach Heiko Herrlich is also very impressed by the six-time Germany international and Olympic Silver medal winner from 2016: "Sven Bender is not just a high quality signing as a player," declared Herrlich. "I had a lot of discussions with him and my assessment has proved to be right. His mentality, his complete team spirit make him an ideal leader both on and off the pitch. Just like his brother Lars, Sven is the type of player that every team needs: at the top level in terms of football, extremely committed, relentless, passionate for the whole group. It's great to have both Benders in one team."
For Sven Bender, who played alongside Lars at TSV 1860 Munich up to 2009 in the second division, the move to Leverkusen represents an important boost in a successful career: "After eight wonderful years Dortmund the approach from Leverkusen was particularly attractive. From the many games against Bayer 04 I know the strength of this club. And I also know how much at home Lars feels here," said Bender who made 224 appearances for Borussia Dortmund. "Bayer 04 worked really hard to sign me and I and they gave me the impression they really wanted me to help achieve ambitious targets. That's why I definitely wanted to make the move. It's great it's all worked out."
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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