Head coach Heiko Herrlich had to manage without Julian Brandt, Bernd Leno and Julian Baumgartlinger, who are in the Germany squad tonight, and who are expected to return to Leverkusen tomorrow. The same applies to Leon Bailey who is struggling with an infection at the moment. "Leon is on antibiotics and we'll have to wait and see how he is on Thursday or Friday. If he is sidelined, then we will have another top player in the squad on Saturdays," said Heiko Herrlich, who was unwilling to divulge more details about his squad for the Leipzig game.
As at the start of last week, the Bayer 04 coaching staff again focused on physical work in training – after the Monday training session, Herrlich had his players do two sessions on the following day. While Admir Mehmedi and Panos Retsos completed individual work at the Werkstatt, their team-mates went through a rigorous session on the training ground. There was good news as Joel Pohjanpalo was joined by two returnees Jonathan Tah (back problems) and Benjamin Henrichs (viral infection).
There were just ten Werkself players involved in another intensive session in the afternoon. At the same time, there was no rest for the others – for reasons of controlling the workloads, Tah, Henrichs, Lars Bender, Wendell and Stefan Kießling were busy in the gym.
Another (public) training session is planned for Wednesday before training behind closed doors on Thursday in preparation for the weekend challenge against the second-placed club at the weekend.
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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Following the summer break, most of the players are back in Leverkusen. While two Bayer 04 first-team players are still in action at the World Cup, the players present officially kicked off the new season with fitness assessments. At the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehabilitation and training centre, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba and the rest of the squad worked up quite a sweat in the sweltering summer heat. New signings Afonso Moreira and Kennet Eichhorn also successfully completed the day’s sessions alongside their new team-mates.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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