After Sunday's 1-0 victory in the friendly against Al-Wahda Mecca at the end of the training camp, Wednesday marks the start of the final run-in of the pre-season: The final challenge before the first competitive match of the season in the DFB Cup away to Pforzheim in eleven days (18 August, 15.30 CET) is a friendly against the Spanish top-flight club Valencia on Saturday (21.30 CET). Heiko Herrlich now has another two players available: World Cup runner-up Tin Jedvaj plus new signing Isaac Kiese Thelin, whose loan signing was announced on Tuesday afternoon. The duo, plus latecomer Paulinho, completed the obligatory performance tests in the gym at the BayArena in the morning, which included a wide range of assessments. "I'm very happy to be back here and can hardly wait to kick a ball again," said Jedvaj, who was granted an extended holiday by Heiko Herrlich after his participation in the World Cup final in Russia.
After the intensive World Cup with an historic runners-up spot for Croatia, he certainly felt the benefit of the break. "I enjoyed every second. Now it's a question of getting up to the physical level of the others as soon as possible and having a good season," said the 22-year-old Croat who now has the date of the World Cup final on his upper arm. In tomorrow's session (16.30 CET), Jedvaj returns to the Werkself training ground for the first time in three months.
The Werkstatt was not only busy because of the performance tests. Long-term injury Joel Pohjanpalo plus Charles Aránguiz (knee) and Panos Retsos (thigh) met up on the third upper floor at the BayArena for treatment and/or to complete their individual programmes. That also applied to Lukas Hradecky – albeit on the pitch. As he did in Zell am See, the new Werkself number one wore a lacrosse mask on the pitch as he worked on his comeback with goalkeeping coach David Thiel.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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