After rousing applause to greet Kerem Demirbay, his call for "Ask me whatever you want" drew an immediate response. Nearly every young football player in the room raised their arms. The midfielder provided detailed answers to the questions from the children for over half an hour.
The youngsters discovered that Demirbay’s relationship with head coach Xabi Alonso is "very good" and that he gets on best with Nadiem Amiri, Karim Bellarabi and Jonathan Tah in the Werkself squad. The 29-year-old was also asked about his goal celebration and Demirbay explained his personal ritual step-by-step.
The father of two clearly enjoyed answering the children's questions and afterwards he made himself available for an autograph session. The signature of the Bayer 04 player now adorns shirts, autograph cards, drinks bottles and socks belonging to the young football players. The perfect way to finish was a group photo with all the participants.
After a goalless and at times evenly-matched first half, Bayer 04's U19s ultimately suffered a heavy defeat at Manchester City. Coach Kevin Brok's depleted side - including five players who were part of the senior squad for the Champions League game in the evening - lost 6-0 on Matchday 5 of the UEFA Youth League.
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The Werkself face Manchester City for the very first time on Tuesday for Matchday 5 of the league phase in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League (kick-off: 21:00 CET). The hosts sit fourth in the standings and boast huge quality in attack, while Leverkusen are looking to improve their meagre record of just one win from the last 10 games away at English clubs. A key player in that regard could be Aleix Garcia, the former City midfielder who ranks highly in several passing metrics in the Champions League this season. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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The Werkself's next European trip takes them to the north-west of England as Kasper Hjulmand's side take on Manchester City on Tuesday, 25 November (kick-off: 21:00 CET) on Matchday 5 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. As usual, we'll take you along on the #aCROSSeurope journey and report from Manchester. All times listed are in CET.
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The annual Black and Red Week has started. Day one, Tuesday 25 November, includes a special ticket offer for Bayer 04 Club members and a special jersey offer for all Werkself fans...
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