After the hard-fought 1-0 win against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the DFB Cup, the Bayer 04 pros had the chance to take a well-deserved break over the festive period into the New Year. Although this winter break has been shorter than normal due to the World Cup finals in the summer with the associated earlier start to the second half of the Bundesliga campaign, Werkself players and coaching staff used the opportunity to get far away to recharge their batteries: Bernd Leno spent a couple of days in New York, Stefan Kießling went to Austria with his family, Joel Pohjanpalo took a break in Helsinki and Karim Bellarabi went to Africa.
Today, the focus is clearly on the restart of the league campaign with what promises to be a cracker of a match on Friday 12 January at 20.30 CET in front a sell-out crowd at the BayArena against the runaway league leaders and reigning champions Bayern Munich. After the opening session on Tuesday, the Werkself have a double shift on Tuesday (10.30 CET and 15.30 CET) with another public session on Thursday (15.30 CET) before the first of two friendlies. Bayer 04 entertain second division SpVgg Greuther Fürth at the Haberland Stadium on Friday before taking on third division Preußen Münster at the same venue on Saturday. The two games kick off at 14.00 CET. The three South Americans Charles Aránguiz, Wendell and Lucas Alario will join their team-mates on Wednesday as Heiko Herrlich has given the trio an extra day off due to the long journeys from Chile, Brazil and Argentina.
There is another highlight for the Werkself at the weekend. During the ARD Sportschau TV show on Sunday the draw will be held for the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup at 18.00 CET – and it's fingers crossed for a favourable draw in the last eight.
Just in time for the start of the school year, everyone was hard at work again at NaturGut Ophoven. For the 21st time, Bayer 04 have supported the annual ‘BioBrotbox’ campaign, which puts together a healthy breakfast for first-year primary school pupils in Leverkusen – and not only contributed 1,904 muesli bars but also plenty of enthusiasm too: Together with the U19 players Burak Kir and Clinton Wilson, Emily Wallrabenstein and Paulina Platner from the Women’s Bundesliga team helped with the packing. The latter was clearly delighted “that Bayer 04 are helping out with regional projects like this and showing their commitment to the local community”.
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A group of about 50 members of the Bayer 04 Football Academy São Paulo visited Leverkusen over the past few days, accompanied by Bayer 04 club legend Paulo Sergio and Luiz Felipe (managing director of academy in São Paulo) for a week full of football, encounters and very special insights. In addition to the Bundesliga away game in Elversberg and the home game against Union Berlin, the visit also featured a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy in Leverkusen and a tour of the Bayer AG facilities. The guests also gained special insights into the club and the world of Bayer 04.
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The men's clothing retailer LERROS will remain the official fashion and premium partner of Bayer 04 for the current season. As in the past, LERROS will provide the club's men's team, coaching staff and management with high-quality clothing for international trips.
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“Diaby! Diaby! Diaby!” was the cry around the BayArena as the Werkself danced in front of the north stand following their 4-0 win over Union Berlin. Captain Edmond Tapsoba gave his new (and old) teammate a friendly shove forward to take in the acclaim from the fans. The returning Frenchman was typically reserved in thanking the supporters but was clearly emotional about what was happening.
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