The U14s are still top of the table in the Youth Cup after a 1-1 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach. In the home game against the team in second on the same points, the Werkself youngsters levelled with ten minutes to play for the final score of 1-1. The Black and Reds played with ten players for over 50 minutes after a red card on the half-hour mark and conceded the goal just after the sending off. “We fought our way back into the game with ten men. The draw was deserved,” summed up coach Mirko Casper.
Like the older year group, the Leverkusen U13s held on to top spot in the Youth Cup. The team under the coaching duo Benjamin Adam and Marco Walter won 5-2 at FC Köln – and have now gone six games without dropping a point.
The Werkself U12s were on the wrong end of a 7-0 scoreline away to Fortuna Düsseldorf. “Even though we were unable to impress in attack, our biggest problem was individually with the defenders,” said coach Pierre de Witt, who is sure after the performance of the Rhine rivals that Fortuna “will win other games” following their first victory of the season.
The Leverkusen U11s secured a runaway win against Fortuna Köln in a friendly. The final score in the second game on the 9-a-side pitch: 14:2.
The U10s also played in a friendly and they deservedly beat the VfB Hilden U11 team 7-2 in four 20-minute quarters. “We’re very happy with the performance,” said coach Alexander Nuss who works alongside Marvin Schmitz with the U10 squad. “We have made clear progress, above all in terms of our game, passing and decision making.”
The U9s had a friendly away to FC Hennef. “We were able to learn a lot from the game,” said coach Greuel who made a positive assessment of the start to the season: “We are happy with the squad and we think they in very good shape.”
FC Köln v Bayer 04 U19 5-0 (L)
Fortuna Düsseldorf v Bayer 04 U15 3-1 (F)
Bayer 04 U14 v Borussia Mönchengladbach 1-1 (L)
FC Köln v Bayer 04 U13 2-5 (L)
Fortuna Düsseldorf v Bayer 04 U12 7-0 (L)
Bayer 04 U11 v Fortuna Köln 14-2 (F)
Bayer 04 U10 v VfB Hilden U11 7-2 (F)
FC Hennef v Bayer 04 U9 o.E. (F)
Bayer 04 U8 v FC Pesch o.E. (F)
(L) = League | (F) = Friendly
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…
Show more
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.
Show more
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
Show more
The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
Show more
Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
Show more
