There is great excitement at Bayer 04 ahead of the last game for the Werkself this season. Given the points parity and the three-goal worse goal difference with fourth placed TSG Hoffenheim (at home to Borussia Dortmund) the last match of the season is not just about three points or three goals but also about three additional letters. To be more exact, it's about the competition Bayer 04 will be playing in next term: Champions League or Europa League. "I think about calculations like that too. But that doesn't achieve anything. We have to concentrate on ourselves – and winning the game against Hannover will be hard enough," said head coach Heiko Herrlich late on Monday afternoon.
As in recent weeks, the boss only involved the substitutes from the Bremen match on the training ground with the starting eleven and team-mates recovering from injury working at the BayArena. One exception was Dominik Kohr. The number 21 was – for at least around 60 minutes – with the two goalkeepers Ramazan Özcan and Niklas Lomb plus Lucas Alario, Karim Bellarabi, Benjamin Henrichs, Marlon Frey, Vladlen Yurchenko and Stefan Kießling in bright sunshine and summer temperatures on the training ground. For Kies it was the start of his last week as a pro before ending his playing career on Saturday against Hannover.
Positive news about Jonathan Tah. The 22-year-old is on the verge of returning to full training this week after his hip injury and Herrlich is confident about a possible appearance against Hannover. The same applies to Leon Bailey and Wendell, who were substituted at Bremen due to muscular problems. The captain Lars Bender and his brother Sven completed individual sessions on the training ground on Monday morning but it remains to be seen whether they will be available for the last game of the season. There is less optimism regarding Joel Pohjanpalo who is still in rehab training following an ankle injury.
The Werkself have two open training sessions this week (Tuesday and Wednesday, each at 10.30 CET) before a closed session on Thursday for final preparations ahead of the Hannover match.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have given U17 player Francis Onyeka a long-term contact. The club has agreed a deal with the 16-year-old to 30 June 2027.
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#B04eSports team suffered the first defeat of the season on matchday five in the VBL Club Championship 2023/24. Last night’s other games ended in a win and a draw. The Black and Reds are now fifth in the North West division.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen back continuity at the top of the club. The Bundesliga and Europa League participants have extended the contract with sporting managing director Simon Rolfes to 2028. The former midfielder and long-standing Werkself captain took over this position as the successor to Rudi Völler in the summer of 2022. He was previously the sporting director at Bayer 04 for three and a half years.
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The fans have decided: The goal scored by Florian Wirtz to make it 1-0 for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 2-1 home win against SC Freiburg was voted Goal of the Month for October with 45 % of the votes cast. The 20-year-old Werkself player won the vote conducted by ARD-Sportschau by a clear margin ahead of second-placed Harry Kane (Bayern Munich).
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BK Häcken have yet to gain a point in Group H. The club from Gothenburg entertain the Werkself on Thursday 30 November (kick-off: 21.00 CET). Häcken will be looking to improve their record in the last European home game of the year against the group leaders.
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