"This week we all want to get back on track together and make sure we're 100% fit. And next week we'll focus on the game against Bayern." Heiko Herrlich has laid down the approach for the Werkself in the short phase before the restart of the Bundesliga with the cracker of a fixture against the league leaders from Munich on Friday 12 January. There are two friendlies in addition to the sessions at the training ground at the BayArena. The first is on Friday (14.00 CET, Haberland Stadium) against second division SpVgg Greuther Fürth followed by the match against third division Preußen Münster on Saturday (14.00 CEt, Haberland Stadium). And there is a special service for all Bayer 04 fans unable to be at the games: Both matches will be broadcast live on bayer04.de and Facebook.
Heiko Herrlich has already announced he wants to give all his players match practice in the two friendlies as far as is possible. "I will pick two different teams. Ideally, all players will get 90 minutes on the pitch," said the Werkself coach. Following the return of Wendell and Lucas Alario on Wednesday, with both completing full training, Charles Aránguiz and Leon Bailey have also returned from their winter breaks. Benny Henrichs, who suffered a bruised foot in the DFB Cup game at Borussia Mönchengladbach, was only able to complete an individual training session and is unlikely to feature in the friendlies. "We don't want to take any risks with him and we'll take it day by day," declared Herrlich.
Friday's match against Fürth brings a reunion with Roberto Hilbert. The 33 year-old stalwart and right back played 58 Bundesliga games for Bayer 04 from 2013 to 2017 before moving on to the Bavarian club in the summer. In addition to Hilbert, there are two other men at the club, currently next to bottom in the second division, who used to be at Leverkusen: The winger Khaled Narey (23) came through the youth ranks at Bayer 04, and Fürth's head coach Damir Buric was assistant to Robin Dutt at the Werkself in 2011/12. The 53-year-old Croat (pictured above with Stefan Kießling) took over in September after Janos Radoki was dismissed.
Also in danger of relegation – albeit in a tier below in the third division –are Preußen Münster, third bottom in the table at the winter break. The former giants from East Westphalia parted company with coach Benno Möhlmann two weeks before Christmas with Marco Antwerpen taking charge (formerly at Viktoria Köln). The club won their major honours over 50 years ago: In 1951 Preußen reached the German Championship final, and they were founder members of the Bundesliga in 1963. A nice footnote: The club made their Bundesliga debut in front of 38,000 fans at a sold-out Preußen Stadium against Hamburg SV (1-1) – the first capacity crowd in the history of the Bundesliga was at Münster. Back then, the Preußen team included Manfred Rummel, who passed away last year, and he was the coach who took the Werkself to the second division in 1975. Münster and Bayer 04 were rivals in the Second Division North from 1975 to 1979.
Bosnia U19 international Kerim Alajbegovic is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth set-up to Red Bull Salzburg. The talented attacking midfielder has signed a long-term contract with the Austrian club. At the same time, the works club secured a buy-back option for the 17-year-old, who was one of the mainstays of the Leverkusen U19s.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Premier League club Chelsea in the final pre-season friendly. The game against the current holders of the UEFA Conference League is on Friday, 8 August at Stamford Bridge with the kick-off at 20:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Dutch top-flight club Fortuna Sittard in the third pre-season friendly. The match is on Friday, 1 August at the Fortuna Sittard stadium with the kick-off at 19:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to VfL Bochum in the second pre-season friendly. The match is on Sunday, 27 July at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion with the kick-off at 18:00 CEST. Read on for the latest information on ticket sales.
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