"The holidays were long enough to recover mentally and physically. I'm looking forward to getting started again," said Baumgartlinger ahead of numerous physical examinations (e.g. blood, eyes) plus balance and mobility tests. Tah and Dragovic, who returns to the Werkself after the end of his loan spell at Leicester City, followed the instructions of the medics, physios, coaches and sport scientists at the Werkstatt. Above all, at the concluding spiroergometry test, performance measurements on the treadmill, the Werkself trio gave their all, which is why Baumgartlinger talked about an "intensive start." After four hours of tests the trio were able to shower. "Nobody really likes these checks and performance tests but they are obviously important. And now we've done it," was Tah's assessment of proceedings.
The three returnees will train with the rest of the squad for the first this summer on Friday (16.00 CET, live on bayer04.de) before Herrlich's players embark on three training sessions on Saturday (10.30 and 16.00 CET) and Sunday (10.30 CET). "The break was longer than normal for us due to the World Cup – now I can hardly wait to play football again, " said Tah.
The first pre-season friendly for the Black and Reds is next Wednesday (18.00 CET) against SV Roßbach/Verscheid.
“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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