News in brief: Baumgartlinger returns to full training

Stalwart Julian Baumgartlinger has taken another step towards playing in the European Championship finals. The 33-year-old has returned to full training with the Werkself. “It felt great to be back on the training ground with the lads after less than four months. The first sessions went better then expected and I feel really good. Now I’m going to carry on working towards playing for Austria at the Euros,” said Baumgartlinger.

Austria coach Franco Foda has called up his captain as well as Werkself central defender Aleksandar Dragovic to the preliminary Euro squad on Wednesday afternoon.

THE FINAL week of training

There is one match to play in the Bundesliga and then the Werkself players will set off for a well-deserved holiday or to one of the biggest international tournaments in the summer. In the final week after having Monday off there were sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. The team led by head coach Hannes Wolf will maintain that rhythm up to the away game at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, 22 May (kick-off: 15.30 CEST).

ahead of euros: Kroos has coronavirus

The former Leverkusen player Toni Kroos does not believe his participation in the European Championships is threatened by his latest Covid-19 infection. “Of course I’ll be ready,” said the Real Madrid midfielder who played for the Werkself from January 2009 to June 2010. Joining the Germany training camp could be delayed by a few days under certain circumstances. The team under coach Joachim Löw will prepare for the European Championship finals from 28 May in the Austrian Tyrol. Bayer 04 wish Toni a swift recovery and a successful Euros.

first aid boxes for parents

Bayer 04 and sponsors club partner apotal.de have provided Werkself first aid packages to all participants in the first parent workshops. The parents were given a wide range of materials such as wound treatment sets and analgesic gel.

60 per cent of the families took up the offer of the workshop. Assessment of the feedback forms revealed a high level of satisfaction and interest and that means the youth section at Bayer 04 can really look forward to the already planned next parent workshop. That will be held in June and deals with the issue of the pressure to perform. The Bayer 04 sports psychologists Simon Borgmann and Timo Heinze will be advisors for the event.

'connect 04' – the Bender Special

In keeping with the impending retirement of Lars and Sven Bender, we have selected the Bender edition of Connect 04 for you to enjoy. Has one of the two ever pretended to be his twin brother? HERE is the video.