With a total of 20.8% (52 votes), Havertz narrowly beat the winners from the first half of the season Marco Reus (20%) and Jadon Sancho (14.8%) from league rivals Borussia Dortmund. "Six months ago, the now 20-year-old Leverkusen player was amongst the also-rans but a brilliant second half of the season has seen him overtake the more experienced Dortmund players," was the view of the kicker. Furthermore: "The victory for Havertz and the next generation (Reus was 30 a few days ago making him ten years older) was underlined by his stats: The attacking midfielder and inspirational force in the side netted 11 of his 17 goals in the second half of the season."
Under the heading of 'High flyer of the season', the most successful goalscorer of the Werkself (18%) was in second place behind the 19-year-old Dortmund player Sancho (30.4%) and ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt Luka Jovic (17.6%). "The rise of Havertz, now voted best player, was clearly not primarily associated with the previous season. The Leverkusen player made his league debut at the age of 17 back on 25 October 2016 in the 2-1 defeat at Bremen," declared the kicker.
The Werkself head coach Peter Bosz (5.6%) was the fourth highest response to the kicker request to name the top coach. That puts the 55-year-old behind Adi Hütter (Eintracht Frankfurt, 40.4%), Friedhelm Funkel (Fortuna Düsseldorf, 16.8%) and Florian Kohfeld (Werder Bremen, 12%).
The second international break of the 2025/26 season will begin after the Bundesliga match against Union Berlin (Saturday, 4 October, 15:30 CEST). The latest information on call-ups.
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Alejo Sarco and Argentina won their second group match at the U20 World Cup in Chile on Wednesday night. They beat Australia 4-1 with Sarco setting the tone early with a goal in the third minute. As in the first group game against Cuba, where Sarco scored twice, the 19-year-old was also named "Player of the Match" against Australia.
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Second game, second draw in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26: The Werkself were held to a 1-1 draw by Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven on matchday two in the league phase. After an early but brief setback in the form of an offside goal by Ivan Perisic for the visitors (5'), the Werkself took control and created numerous good chances in the first half. Leverkusen took a deserved lead after the break in the 65th minute through Christian Kofane. However, PSV's Ismael Saibari replied a few minutes later to level at 1-1 (72').
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In the second match in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26, the Werkself host PSV Eindhoven this Wednesday evening, 1 October (kick-off: 21:00 CEST/live on DAZN and on Werkself Radio). PSV have injury problems but are in confident mood after winning two consecutive league titles. PSV coach Peter Bosz and keeper Matej Kovar are two familiar faces who have fond memories of their Bayer 04 days. The latest information on the UCL match at the BayArena can be found in out matchday news.
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Bayer 04 beat PSV Eindhoven 3-2 on matchday two to clock up the next three points in the UCL Youth League 2025/26. In front of just under 500 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium, the visitors from the Netherlands led at half-time, but the Werkself turned the game round in the second 45. That makes it two wins on the bounce after the victory in Copenhagen.
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