Kai, let's start with the most important question: What grade did you get and how was it?
Havertz: I had a four-hour geography exam on Tuesday and I feel really good about it so it must have gone alright.
What's the timetable for your A-levels in the next few weeks?
Havertz: I'm almost completely finished with the pre-exams and and then there's the run-in to the real A-levels in a month’s time. I've got German and Sport as main courses, Geography as the third subject and Maths oral.
Bayer 04 have pursued a dual concept in youth development for a long time to ensure vocational and academic education are not ignored. Who made the decision for you to concentrate on school this week?
Havertz: It came from the coach and that was fine by me as I knew I still had work to do. Otherwise, I would have been away for three days so it fitted in well. Of course, I would have liked to have played at the Vicente Calderón.
How have you found the double burden of school and professional football recently?
Havertz: It's been tough recently and there were times where it was really stressful when I needed to be fully focused on both things. It really is tiring and sometimes it's not easy mentally. But the end is in sight soon and then I can finally concentrate on my duties as a pro. And I'm very grateful to the club that I could combine football and school. That was important to my parents and to me.
Where did you watch your team-mates play and what's your assessment of their performance?
Havertz: I watched the game at home in Leverkusen and I think the lads played really well. Although everything wasn't perfect it was a step in the right direction.
Will you be available for the Werkself at Hoffenheim on Saturday?
Havertz: Well there aren't any academic duties at the weekend. But the coach has to decide whether he wants to include me in the squad. I'm definitely up for it.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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"In every ending lies a new beginning" is a well-known saying. This phrase has probably never been more apt at Bayer 04. After winning the Bundesliga in 2023/24 and finishing as runners-up in 2024/25, the summer was the most eventful ever in terms of transfers. Over ten players and the coach, including the coaching staff, left the club. A lot of the heroes of the double-winning side began a new chapter. It was the end of an era. And at the same time the beginning of a new, very exciting and promising chapter for Leverkusen. The Werkself welcomed more than a dozen new arrivals, including experienced title-winners and young talents, to build a new "foundation for a successful team capable of winning titles" under the Bayer Cross, as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. A new spirit, a new hunger, a new story was to be created. Bayer04.de looks back at the first few months of this story and the final act of the preseason.
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43 points at the end of the last Bundesliga season were not only more than ever before for the Bayer 04 Women, but also led to a record fourth-place finish. That was followed by a Hinrunde with many more victories, but also some setbacks. In an interview with bayer04.de, sporting director Achim Feifel takes stock at the end of the year.
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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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A record-breaking year ends for the Bayer 04 Women. Fourth place, 13 wins and 43 points in the 2024/25 campaign - the Werkself have never been so good in the Bundesliga. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team also had plenty of reasons to celebrate in the first half of the new Bundesliga season - although there were also a few disappointments. A look back at 2025 for the Bayer 04 Women’s team.
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