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.
100 children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy had the chance to gain exclusive insights: As part of the summer camp, the young footballers headed inside the BayArena at midday on Tuesday, 21 July, where they were due to meet Werkself keepers Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch in the press conference room. The two players took plenty of time to answer every question from the inquisitive audience – whether it was about their own careers or their first impressions of the new head coach. Finally, there was even time left to sign autographs for the young fans.
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Alejo Sarco has left Bayer 04 Leverkusen to join Sporting Gijón in Spain’s second division. Bayer 04 have secured a buy-back clause for the 20-year-old Argentine striker, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed 16-year-old midfield prospect Gabriel Minutillo on a long-term contract. The Germany youth international will play for the U19s this season.
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Bayer 04 preparations for the 2026/27 season are in full swing, with the first friendly now under their belts. Although there are still around seven weeks to go until the first Bundesliga home game in early September, there is already huge anticipation for the start of competitive action for head coach Carles Martínez’s team at the BayArena. For the Bundesliga home matches of the new season, here is the latest information regarding the first phase of single-match ticket sales. The tried-and-tested early-bird phase remains in place. From 23 to 31 July, tickets for matches will go on sale on weekdays; the early-bird phase ends on 5 August at the latest – provided tickets are still available by then.
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