The Werkself's year

A special year full of highs for the Werkself is coming to an end. From an emotional journey in the UEFA Europa League and a positive end to the 2022/23 season to an impressive first half of the current campaign, in which Bayer 04 have broken several club and league records and enjoyed unprecedented levels of fan support. It's been an exciting and eventful 2023, which Bayer 04 end unbeaten at the top of the Bundesliga table. The Werkself's year review.

January: A World Cup winner and a long-awaited comeback

There was double cause for celebration at the beginning of the year. Not only did Exequiel Palacios return to Leverkusen as a World Cup winner and earn praise from all sides, but Florian Wirtz also provoked a big cheer when he made his comeback in the 3-2 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach after 315 days out with a cruciate ligament tear. In the next game against VfL Bochum (2-0), the fit-again playmaker was already in the starting line-up again and provided an assist for Adam Hlozek. A 2-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund ended a run of five straight Bundesliga wins.

February: Europa League journey begins

February saw the start of a hugely emotional journey in the Europa League. Midway through the month, the Werkself battled it out with AS Monaco in the play-offs for a place in the UEL round of 16. Victory was secured in penalties in the second leg, with Leverkusen converting all their spot-kicks to book their place in the last 16 - and starting an unbeaten run of 14 games in all competitions.

March: Winning run gathers pace

Buoyed by the successes of the previous month, the Werkself completed a perfect March by winning all of their competitive games. In the league there were wins over Hertha BSC (4-1) and SV Werder Bremen (3-2), while both legs of the Europa League last-16 meeting against Ferencvaros ended in 2-0 victories. The month was rounded off in style by a 2-1 success against FC Bayern Munich at a sold-out BayArena, where Palacios was the hero with a brace of penalties which triggered celebrations not seen in a long time.

April: Historic progression in Belgium

Xabi Alonso's men faced a demanding programme in April. Amongst Bundesliga fixtures against Eintracht Frankfurt, VfL Wolfsburg and RB Leipzig, there was the Europa League quarter-final against Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise. The first leg finished 1-1, with Union's goal being scored by a certain Victor Boniface, who had long been on the works club's radar and showed why he was the top goalscorer in the Europa League. That was followed by a thrilling and fully deserved 4-1 victory in the return leg in Belgium, through which Bayer 04 reached a semi-final of a European competition for the first time in over 20 years. The spark between team and fans was ignited and a Europa League euphoria was aroused.

May: Drama versus Roma – positive league conclusion

An evening for the history books: after the narrow 1-0 defeat in the UEL semi-final first leg in Rome, it came to a showdown in the second leg in Leverkusen without the injured Odilon Kossounou and Robert Andrich. Tickets for the match were snapped up within 90 minutes and it proved to be an unforgettable occasion. With a fan march before kick-off, the welcome for the team bus on Bismarckstraße and a stunning tifo in the stadium, the Bayer 04 fans created an electrifying atmosphere. Despite 23-1 attempts on goal for Werkself, Roma limped into the final with a goalless draw. For those in black and red, the dream of the final in Budapest and the journey of 14 European matches since the start of the season were over. It was a cruel way to go out.

The Bundesliga also entered the home straight in May. In the last home game of the season against Gladbach (2-2), the day belonged to Karim Bellarabi, who hung up his boots after 12 years as a footballer. Both teams then had it all to play for on the last day of the season against Bochum. The hosts survived relegation thanks to a 3-0 win, which was to be Bayer 04's last competitive defeat of the calendar year. Despite the defeat at Bochum, Leverkusen finished in sixth place thanks to Hertha's victory at Wolfsburg and were guaranteed qualification for a European competition.

June: Werkself go into 2023/24 Europa League

June may have been a month off for the Werkself but they were watching one match with great interest: the DFB Cup final between Leipzig and Frankfurt. Because Leipzig, who had already qualified for the 2023/24 Champions League, won in the end, it meant Bayer 04 could start the new campaign in the Europa League rather than the play-offs for the UEFA Conference League. Transfer activity also began with the club recalling Gustavo Puerta, who was signed from Colombian outfit Bogota FC at the start of the year and initially loaned to Bundesliga 2 side 1. FC Nürnberg.

July: Major reinforcements under the cross

The summer was defined by further signings, which proved to be real shrewd buys. At the start of July, Bayer 04 announced two big-name transfers in two days: Jonas Hofmann arrived in Leverkusen from league rivals Mönchengladbach, and Granit Xhaka joined from Premier League club Arsenal. On top of that, Boniface from Saint-Gilloise strengthened the Werkself attack at the end of the month, while Alejandro Grimaldo and talented Brazilian Arthur had already long been confirmed as summer signings for the 2023/24 season. Both the media and the fans were excited by the business carried out by Simon Rolfes (managing director for sport) and Fernando Carro (CEO) together with Werner Wenning (chairman of the shareholders' committee), and in which head coach Xabi Alonso also had a significant role.

The results of the first two friendlies didn't go to plan, though, with a 2-1 loss to second-tier side SC Paderborn and 1-0 defeat against Real Sociedad in Alonso's homeland following the training camp in Saalfelden, Austria. But the result against the latter in particular was tolerable: the background to the friendly match was the joint commitment of Bayer 04, Real Sociedad and Bayer AG with its subsidiaries AskBio and Viralgen to the "Fundación Columbus", which is committed to research into rare diseases.

August: Unbeaten run begins - membership record broken

There was positive news to start August, with Alonso extending his contract as Bayer 04 coach by two years until 30 June 2026, much to the fans' delight. After two friendly wins against Olympique Marseille (2-1) and West Ham United (4-0), the new season then got under way with the first round of the DFB Cup. The 8-0 drubbing of FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen was just a taste of what was to come in the weeks ahead from the team, who from now on delighted the fans everywhere with pure joy of playing. Season ticket sales skyrocketed ahead of the league opener against Leipzig, breaking the previous record of 19,350 tickets sold, and membership numbers also rose rapidly. The Werkself won 3-2 at the BayArena in the headline clash on Matchday 1, and followed that up with a 3-0 success at Gladbach. With three wins from three games at the start of the season, the Werkself initiated an incredible unbeaten run which would still be going at the end of the year, over four months later.

August also brought more transfers, with Matej Kovar and Nathan Tella signing from Premier League clubs Manchester United and Southampton, and Josip Stanisic joining on loan from Bayern. In other pleasing news, Boniface was voted Bundesliga Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month for August for three goal involvements in his first two Bundesliga appearances. What nobody expected yet at this point was that the Nigerian striker would win the latter award in each of the following three months, too.

September: League cracker in Munich – best BL start in club history

There was great interest in the top-of-the-table clash between Bayer 04, now league leaders, and second-placed Bayern in mid-September. The German record champions twice led but the Werkself responded both times - the second equaliser coming from a late Palacios penalty in a case of déjà-vu. Then the excitement built for the Europa League campaign, which the Werkself - with defender Jonathan Tah as captain - began with an emphatic 4-0 win against Swedish club BK Häcken. Bundesliga wins over 1. FC Heidenheim (4-1) and at 1. FSV Mainz 05 (3-0) followed, where the away block was literally bursting at the seams with around 4,000 Bayer 04 fans. The win against Mainz, which was also Nadiem Amiri's 100th Bundesliga appearance for the Black & Reds, made history as Leverkusen recorded 16 points after six matchdays, the best Bundesliga start in the club's history to date.

One player who particularly caught the eye in this period was Grimaldo, who was won the hearts of Bayer 04 fans not just because of his free kicks. The Spaniard established himself as a reliable provided of goals and assists in September, netting direct free kicks against both Bayern and Mainz as well as setting up two goals against Heidenheim. In total the left-back has registered 13 goal involvements in 16 league appearances to date. Boniface, meanwhile, posted five goals and two assists in September and was rewarded with his debut for the Nigerian senior national team.

October: Derby winners and phenomenal support

The good news kept coming in October. After Palacios and Edmond Tapsoba signed contract extensions until 30 June 2028 in the previous month, Jeremie Frimpong also committed to the club. The Bayer 04 fans were once again delighted with the club's squad planning. On the pitch, the Europa League continued in October with the first away trip to Molde in Norway. Leverkusen won 2-1, with Tella scoring his first goal in a black and red shirt. There was also a first for Hofmann, who for the first time since his move to Leverkusen was not directly involved in a goal. The Germany international had previously registered at least one goal or assist in eight consecutive games. But Hofmann was back to it three days later, opening the scoring and laying on the final goal for Boniface in the 3-0 derby win at home to 1. FC Köln. The Werkself's flying form continued with wins against Wolfsburg (2-1) and Freiburg (2-1). In the latter, Tapsoba made his 150th competitive appearance for Bayer 04 and Wirtz scored the October Goal of the Month with a brilliant solo effort. The 20-year-old was also named Player of the Month by the German Football League (DFL). The performances on the pitch were matched by the support from the stands, with sold-out matches at the BayArena and large away followings, like when over 2,500 Leverkusen supporters travelled to Wolfsburg.

In the Europa League, Leverkusen consolidated their position at the top of Group H with a 5-1 win against Qarabag. Wirtz starred with one goal and three assists, achieving a new best: since his Europa League debut in August 2020, no player has been directly involved in more goals in the competition than the Leverkusen playmaker (10 goals, 12 assists). However, the most emotional moment of the game came from Patrik Schick, who made his comeback from injury after 231 days to a thunderous standing ovation. The Czech was then sidelined for a few weeks shortly afterwards, though.

November: Historic records and a special international break 

With around 3,000 away fans behind them, Bayer 04 progressed to the DFB Cup round of 16 at SV Sandhausen at the start of the month, with Amine Adli bagging a brace - his fifth and sixth goal involvements of the cup season. Three days later, Palacios celebrated his 100th appearance for B04 with a 3-2 win over Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. More milestones followed in the remaining league encounters in November: against 1. FC Union Berlin (4-0), the Werkself made it 16 victories in 17 competitive games and 31 points of a possible 33 - equalling a record set by Bayern in the 2015/16 campaign. At Bremen, the Werkself then triumphed 3-0 in front of around 4,000 travelling fans. Things also went well in the Europa League in November, with a 1-0 success against Qarabag in Baku and a 2-0 victory against Häcken wrapping up top spot in the group early. There was extra celebration against Häcken as Puerta made his full debut, Noah Mbamba his Europa League debut and Ayman Aourir got his maiden first-team runout. In addition, Schick returned again and was immediately on the scoresheet. At the end of the month, Rolfes extended his contract as managing director for sport until 2028.

Between the Bundesliga games against Union and Bremen, the last international break of the year was also eventful from a Leverkusen point of view. Several players booked their places at EURO 2024 with their respective national teams or contested the first qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup with success. In Robert Andrich (Germany), who had been called up in October but not used, as well as Grimaldo (Spain) and Tella (Nigeria), no fewer than three Leverkusen players made their international debuts. Meanwhile, Xhaka became Switzerland's outright record appearance maker having previously shared the honour with Heinz Hermann.

December: Home marathon and tumbling records 

It was a real sprint to the finish for the Werkself in December, with six games in 17 days, five of them at home. For two whole months in a row, Alonso's charges had won every competitive match, but against Borussia Dortmund they had to settle for a 1-1 draw despite a dominant display. The high-octane top-of-the-table clash against VfB Stuttgart also ended 1-1. It was back to winning ways in the DFB Cup against Paderborn (3-1) and in the final UEL group game against Molde (5-1), as the Werkself became the only side to end this season's UEL group stage with a 100% record. Schick made his first start in 400 days and scored the opening goal after just six minutes, while Niklas Lomb was also back in the team for the first time since February 2021. Oh, and Ken Izekor became Bayer 04's youngest debutant in a competitive game as well as the youngest German to feature in a Europa League/UEFA Cup match at the age of 16 years and 204 days.

Frankfurt (3-0) and Bochum (4-0) were the final two opponents of 2023. Schick hit a hat-trick against VfL and Boniface registered his 17th direct goal involvement in his 16th Bundesliga appearance. His goal was assisted by Wirtz, who laid on a goal in a competitive game for the 20th time in this calendar year - more often than any other player in Europe's top five leagues. Before the match began, Fernando Carro honored the 40,000th Bayer 04 club member, and after the final whistle, the Werkself sang two Christmas carols together with the fans. An atmospheric end to a unique year. The team go into the new year in first place in the Bundesliga with 42 points from 16 games, the best start to a Bundesliga campaign. Bayer 04 are also the only side in German professional football who are still unbeaten after the first 25 competitive fixtures. The Werkself can therefore reflect on a successful first half of the season and look forward to the second half with great excitement...