Karim Bellarabi, who was unable to play to the end of the water fight against FC Nürnberg on Monday night due to muscular problems, is also on the road to recovery. On Wednesday, he trained on his own in the gym but the 28-year-old should be back on the pitch for the closed training session on Thursday. "I expect he will be fit for Saturday," said Heiko Herrlich on Wednesday.
The Werkself coach was less optimistic about Sven Bender who was substituted at half-time due to foot pains. "At the moment, we are leaning towards resting him – we definitely don't want to make a mistake that rules him out over the long term," added Herrlich. If the Werkself number five is sidelined then Aleksandar Dragovic, who played against Ludogorets and FC Nürnberg, is an alternative and Tin Jedvaj can also play in central defence.
The Werkself training camp officially began early on Tuesday morning with the landing in Rio de Janeiro. Ahead of the first session in the afternoon local time, bayer04.de profiles the talented youngsters from the youth teams who have travelled to Brazil.
Show morePreparations for the 2025/26 season are in full swing with the new head coach Erik ten Hag working for the start of the season in the middle of August. After the timings for the first matchdays in the forthcoming Bundesliga season were confirmed a few days ago, we now provide information on the first sale phase for match tickets. The early booker phase, exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members, brings some changes. Read on for further information.
Show moreBayer 04 are away to SG Sonnenhof Großaspach in the first round of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal. The match is on Friday, 15 August (kick-off: 18:00 CEST) at the WIRmachenDRUCK Arena. Read on for the latest ticket information.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen will partner closely with parent-company Bayer during its preseason tour to Brazil from July 14 to 24 this month. The backing from Bayer of the “Bayer 04 Brasil Tour” has been crucial in organizing the groundbreaking training camp for ten days, plus a host of local activities and community events capped by the match against Flamengo's U20 team on July 18 at Estádio da Gávea.
Show moreThe bags are packed and Bayer 04 will set off for Brazil in a few hours. Over the next ten days, the team led by head coach Erik ten Hag will be the first Bundesliga side to hold a training camp in the country of the five-time World Cup winners. The Werkself will train at Flamengo’s Campus Ninho do Urubu under the motto ‘Esquenta!’ (warm up) and play a friendly against the U20 team of the world-famous club. Read on for training camp timetable.
Show more