It won't be an easy game for Leverkusen: The record champions from Bavaria are riding a wave of success since the change of coaches from Niko Kovac to Hansi Flick: The men from Munich have won all of their last four games under the new coach – with a goal difference of 16 to 0. "They have a lot of momentum at the moment," said Bayer 04 coach Peter Bosz at the pre-match press conference before adding: "That makes the game very interesting for us. We want to get a result in Munich and I think that's possible." To achieve that, his players have to perform as a team and each individual "produce his best level".
Bosz will not be able to call on long-term absentees Mitchell Weiser and Joel Pohjanpalo and it remains to be seen whether Daley Sinkgraven and Kai Havertz will be in the squad. Both took part in full training on Thursday. "We'll see today how they've dealt with yesterday’s session and what happens in the final pre-match training. Then we'll decide who we take to Munich," said the Werkself coach.
One key question ahead of the game: Who can stop Bayern's in-form striker Robert Lewandowski? Bayer 04 defender Sven Bender knows how the Poland international plays from their time together at Borussia Dortmund (2010 – 14). Tomorrow's opponents played together for four seasons at BVB. "It could be an advantage as he knows Lewandowski very well. Of course, he's carried on developing since then. But he's not a completely new player," said Bosz who is looking to stop the Bayern central striker "as a team".
During the press conference, the Werkself coach spoke about possible transfers. According to reports in the media, the Argentinian Exequiel Palacios is set to be a new signing for the Werkself. Bosz: "It's almost December and this subject starts again. It's the first question of that type I've been asked and in the coming months there will be lots of questions about lots of players. I can only say: Good players are always welcome here."
This fan meeting got off to a rather unexpected start. On Sunday afternoon, the Bayer 04 managing directors had just welcomed the fans present at the team hotel for the traditional get-together at the training camp when Fernando Carro’s phone rang. The CEO, glancing towards managing director sport Simon Rolfes with a smile, said: “We’ll just have to answer that quickly.” When asked by the fans what the call was actually about, the pair left it open with a wink. Instead, Carro and Rolfes then spent over an hour happily answering the fans’ many other questions.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed Kerim Alajbegovic’s transfer to Italian record champions Juventus. The club brought the 18-year-old attacking player back to Leverkusen this summer via a buy-back option, following a season at Red Bull Salzburg. Until his move to Austria, the Bosnia international had been playing for Bayer 04’s Under-19s.
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A warm welcome to the Weimarer Land, Bayer 04! The Werkself moved into their accommodation for this year’s training camp on Saturday evening. In Blankenhain, Thuringia, head coach Carles Martínez’s team have a programme of gruelling training sessions – several of which will be open to fans – and team-building activities lined up for the next six days. We’ll be following the Werkself up close and providing you with exclusive insights, quotes, photos and videos from the training camp.
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With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 3-0 victory in the friendly match against Rot-Weiss Essen...
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