Werkself Team of the Quarter-Century: Wirtz and Alonso top the poll – Tapsoba and Rolfes in starting XI

Over the past few weeks, Bayer 04 members have been able to choose from 122 players and twelve coaches via the Bayer 04 app to select their ‘Werkself of the Quarter-Century’ – presented by EDO Personalservice GmbH. All of them had to have played or coached at least 25 competitive matches for the Werkself between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2024.

Three-quarters of the members who voted opted for a 3-5-2 formation.

Goalkeeper: Championship-winning captain Hradecky ahead of Leno

The result for the goalkeeper position was clear-cut: 70 per cent of the members who took part voted for Lukas Hradecky (at Bayer 04 from 2018 to 2025) for their team. After nearly 300 competitive matches, the Finn became the first Werkself captain to lift the Bundesliga trophy in 2024, before presenting it to the fans in the North Stand – emotional scenes and moments that will be remembered forever.

Former Germany keepers Bernd Leno and René Adler are on the bench. Leno wasin goal for Bayer 04 in 304 matches between 2011 and 2018, while Adler joined Leverkusen’s youth set-up in 2000 and went on to make a total of 173 appearances for the Werkself up to 2012.

Defence: Solid back three of Tah, Lucio and Tapsoba

Five defenders feature in the illustrious line-up, well ahead of the rest of the field: Jonathan Tah (voted for by 83 per cent), Lucio (74 per cent) and Edmond Tapsoba (65 per cent) are in the starting line-up, with Alejandro Grimaldo, Jens Nowotny and Piero Hincapie on the bench.

Tah, who played over 400 games during his ten years at Leverkusen, current Werkself player Tapsoba, the Spanish magician Grimaldo and the Ecuadorian Hincapie were all part of that historic championship-winning and double-winning team. Lucio and Nowotny, among others, reached the UEFA Champions League final with Bayer 04 in the 2001/02 season.

Midfield: Wirtz, Ballack and a trio of honorary captains

No other player received more votes: 95 per cent of members voted for Florian Wirtz. At the age of 16, the Pulheim-born player joined Bayer 04, where he went on to develop into a world-class player. He quickly established himself in the first team, going on to make an impressive 122 direct goal contributions in 197 competitive matches over the following five years. Unforgettable: his hat-trick in the decisive home match to seal the Bundesliga title against Werder Bremen. In 2025, he moved on to Liverpool.

Joining Wirtz are three honorary captains: Bernd Schneider (83 per cent), Lars Bender (55 per cent) and Simon Rolfes (52 per cent). Between them, the trio made over 1,000 appearances for Bayer 04, and all three are among the club’s top ten all-time appearance makers. The fifth starting spot in midfield is taken by Michael Ballack (66%), who played for the Werkself until 2002 and again from 2010 to 2012.

Granit Xhaka, Zé Roberto and Jeremie Frimpong are on the bench. The Switzerland international Xhaka was the central leader and playmaker in the Werkself midfield from 2023 to 2025, and one of the mainstays on the club’s journey to the historic double in 2024. Winger Frimpong was equally instrumental in the successes of recent years, contributing to 18 goals in 31 appearances in the Bundesliga during the title-winning season. Although Zé Roberto was denied a trophy during his time at Leverkusen, the Brazilian played a decisive role in shaping the Werkself’s early years of the new millennium until his departure in 2002 – shortly after the Champions League final with the Black and Reds.

Attack: Kies and Kai form a two-man strike force – Schick also in the squad

With 162 goals, Stefan Kießling – who played an impressive 444 matches for the Werkself between 2006 and 2018 – is Bayer 04’s most prolific goalscorer of the past quarter of a century – more than 83 per cent of members voted for Kies in their team. Alongside him in attack is Kai Havertz (64 per cent). The home-grown talent joined Leverkusen at the age of eleven and remains the youngest player of all time to have made 100 Bundesliga appearances (aged 20 years and 186 days). After a total of ten years, he moved to Chelsea, where he secured the Champions League trophy with his winner in the 2021 final.

Ulf Kirsten, Dimitar Berbatov and current Werkself player Patrik Schick are on the bench. Bayer 04 record goalscorer, Kirsten, netted the majority of his 240 goals between 1990 and the turn of the millennium, but continued to play a key role in the Werkself’s success from 2000 onwards. Berbatov played up front for the Black and Reds from 2001 to 2006; the Bulgarian ranks fourth on Leverkusen’s all-time goalscoring list with 91 goals. Schick ranks third in the list of the club’s all-time top scorers – with an impressive 103 goals in 210 games.

Coach: Alonso with over 90 per cent of the vote

From the members’ point of view, there could only be one winner for the head coach role of this historic squad: Xabi Alonso, the coach who led the team to the Bundesliga title and the double. The Spaniard received more than 92 per cent of all votes. Alonso took charge of the Werkself in the autumn of 2022 and subsequently led them to the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal double in the 2023/24 season, becoming the first team ever to go unbeaten in the campaign. A few months later, they also claimed the Super Cup. In the summer of 2025, he returned to his homeland to join Real Madrid.

Xabi Alonso, together with several other players from the ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’, has left us with countless unforgettable memories of the club’s most successful era in a quarter of a century, an era shaped by many truly exceptional individuals. Here’s to the next 25 years!