After Thursday's friendly against Basaksehir, the Werkself moved down a gear or two: Recovery was the order of the day as was a lighter training regime. Then day seven at the training camp was over: Heiko Herrlich led two sessions at the training ground on Lake Zell – they were the final two outdoor sessions of this year's summer training camp. In the morning there was another 90-minute intensive workout covering tactics and moves. The Herrlich team was accompanied by loud music coming from the 'Austria Swim Open' on Lake Zell, just a stone's throw from the training ground. In the early evening there was an hour-long session on passing and finishing. It ended with the Werkself pros again busy signing autographs and posing for selfies. Then it was time to say goodbye to the Alois Latini Stadium.
After the first session, Herrlich let his players enjoy themselves for 20 minutes: There were stretches and penalties taken in the main square; Thorsten Kirschbaum, Mitchell Weiser, Kevin Volland and Kai Havertz took the opportunity to shoot hoops. Paulinho, Wendell, Charles Aránguiz and Lucas Alario took part in a cow bell challenge under the watchful eyes of the coaches. Moving images and the winners can be seen on the Bayer 04 Facebook page.
For the past three days, Lukas Hradecky has slowly been getting used to catching balls again following the operation on his jaw. Albeit in a controlled manner. In order to avoid any risks, Lukas wore a lacrosse mask in the morning session. After that, goalkeeping coach David Thiel and assistant coach Xaver Zembrod put the new Werkself number one through his paces with reaction and catching drills. The Finn looked to be enjoying himself from afar. But it was all about safety first.
The gap between training sessions enabled the journalists present to carry out interviews again: Charles Aránguiz, Lucas Alario, Paulinho, Dominik Kohr, Rambo Özcan and Heiko Herrlich patiently fielded questions from the external press and club media.
The training camp in Austria ends tomorrow (Sunday). Reason enough to load the first vans after the second session with the equipment that isn't required tomorrow. Heiko Herrlich and his coaches will lead a warm-up session at the team hotel. And then – after lunch – the group will head off in the direction of Grödig.
The idyllic location of the Goldberg Stadium provides the stage for the sixth pre-season friendly for the Werkself at 15.30 CET. The opponents are the Saudi Arabian top-flight team Al-Wahda Mecca. Bayer 04 are again laying on a special service for supporters back home – from about 15.20 CET, the match will be broadcast live on bayer04.de and the German Facebook page. To get the players in the mood for the friendly and all other forthcoming challenges there was another Werkself film night: This time, Heiko Herrlich showed his players the 'Borg vs McEnroe' biographical film. It covers the unforgettable Wimbledon encounter between the two tennis legends in 1980, which is still considered to be one of the best matches of all time.
Looking behind the scenes – was a common theme during the training camp on social media under the hashtag #B04inAustria. In addition to a bizarre trick shot from Julian Brandt, it was the turn of Lucas Alario to take over Instagram. It's worth a look – both on Snapchat and Twitter.
Optimistic, energetic and back in rhythm: Martin Terrier made his comeback from a ninth-month injury lay-off around three and a half weeks ago. The Frenchman spoke to the media after training on Tuesday about his return in front of the fans at the BayArena and his period on the sidelines. The 28-year-old forward also discussed coach Kasper Hjulmand and the weeks ahead until the end of the year, which he's looking forward to with much ambition and anticipation.
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The Werkself conceded a late goal to suffer the third defeat of the season in Monday night's Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga fixture on matchday ten. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team lost 2-1 at SC Freiburg. Vanessa Fudalla (65’) scored the only goal for Bayer 04 who are now fifth in the table on 19 points.
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Bayer 04 midfielder Ibrahim Maza was honoured in Paris in the Best Algerian Young Player category at the Fennec d'Or awards for the Algerian Footballer of the Year, organised for the first time by the football journal La Gazette du Fennec. "It's an honour for me," said the 19-year-old, delighted with the award.
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On the back of two wins within four days, Bayer 04 Women round off an intensive Bundesliga week in the Black Forest. Roberto Pätzold's side have the chance to move back up to third place against SC Freiburg in the final fixture of Matchday 10 on Monday (18:00 CET) and draw level on points with second-placed VfL Wolfsburg.
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