FC Porto are currently on an eleven-day training camp at the Kamen-Kaiserau Sports Centre near Dortmund. Their squad includes internationally famous players like Iker Casillas, Hector Herrera and Ruben Neves. FC Porto have regularly played European football for years. They lifted the European Cup in 1987 and the Champions League in 2004 plus the UEFA Cup and the Europa League (2003, 2011). Porto have won the Portuguese league 31 times and 16 domestic cup competitions.
The team us managed by Nuno Santo. The young Portuguese coach is successor to Julen Lopetegui who is moving to manage the Spanish national team. Under Lopetegui FC Porto finished third in the league behind Benfica and Sporting Lisbon last term putting them in the play-offs for the Champions League.
Bayer 04 are familiar with that scenario from the previous two Champions League campaigns. This year is a different story with pre-season building up to competitive matches in the DFB Cup and then the Bundesliga. This fifth friendly may give fans the opportunity to see Tin Jedvaj, Admir Mehmedi and Charles Aránguiz plus U19 European Championship players Lukas Boeder and Benny Henrichs in action. All five returned to training this week.
Advice to fans
Hosts SV Bergisch Gladbach 09 have announced that nationwide stadium bans apply to Wednesday night's match against FC Porto at the Belkaw Arena.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned U19 midfielder Jeremiah Mensah to Dutch second-tier side Roda JC Kerkrade for one year. The 18-year-old Germany youth international has a long-term contract at the club to 2031.
Show more
Bayer 04 kick off the final phase of their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with a friendly against Premier League club Nottingham Forest. Head coach Carles Martínez’s team will take to the pitch at the City Ground today, Wednesday 12 August (kick-off: 8.45 pm/7.45 pm local time). Werkself-TV will broadcast the match live and in full exclusively for Bayer 04 members via livestream from 8.35 pm...
Villa Fiorito, River Plate, Ligue 1, the World Cup final and now Bayer 04: Facundo Medina’s life story so far has been shaped by special places, clubs, matches and names. One of them is Diego Maradona, who, like Medina, hailed from the south of Buenos Aires. Another is Exequiel Palacios, his former team-mate at River Plate, who was raving about Bayer 04 to him as recently as the World Cup in North America. Medina has now taken the plunge into the Bundesliga and, as an Argentine World Cup runner-up, has joined Bayer 04 from Olympique de Marseille this week. It is set to be the next successful chapter in his career. Leverkusen’s new number 2 brings with him a South American mentality and passion, a wealth of experience from many years in Ligue 1, and a fascinating story to the Rhineland – and to a club where the 1.84-metre-tall left-footed player will be reunited with Palacios and several other familiar faces.
Show more
Shortly after signing his contract with Bayer 04, new signing Facundo Medina spoke to Werkself.tv about his first impressions of the club, his expectations and his conversations with his Argentine compatriot Exequiel Palacios. The defender also reveals what the fans can look forward to. Welcome to Leverkusen, Facu!
Show more
Welcome back! On Tuesday morning, 11 August, Jarell Quansah and Exequiel Palacios – the last of the Werkself’s World Cup participants – returned to training. The two medallists and their team-mates are set to play their final two pre-season friendlies in England this week before the start of competitive fixtures.
Show more
