In 2024, Granit Xhaka with Bayer 04 celebrated winning the first German league title in the club's history as well as the DFB Pokal and the Supercup. The midfield maestro also impressed with Switzerland at Euro 2024 and again reached the quarter-finals as in the previous European Championship finals. The captain of the national side was voted Man of the Match in the first and third group matches and now has 135 international caps. Granit Xhaka was also the first Swiss player since 1996 to be nominated for the Ballon d'Or last year and he ended up in sixteenth place. Last week, the 32-year-old was voted MVP 2024, the most valuable player of the year, at the Swiss sport gala Sports Awards 2024.
Xhaka, connected online to the Swiss Football Night in Bern, said of his award: "It wasn't just my year. It was our year, with a great Euros. It was outstanding to win the trophies with the club but also celebrate the successes with the national team. I'd like to thank everybody once again. Above all, Murat Yakin (Switzerland head coach, ed.) who supported me both in training as well as privately.
Information on voting process in German is available HERE.
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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“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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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
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