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.
There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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Bayer 04 go into the first of two successive clashes with Borussia Dortmund boosted by their Champions League win at Manchester City. Ahead of the Bundesliga top match on Saturday, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the tight schedule, BVB's strengths and returning squad members.
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Borussia Dortmund are doing very well in terms of points and results in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. BVB have only suffered two defeats to date this term. Now coach Niko Kovac's team are away to the Werkself on Saturday night, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET) in the top match on Bundesliga matchday 12. The two teams meet again three days later in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie in Dortmund. Two very competitive encounters are on the cards. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Bayer 04 Women clcoked up a 3-2 win in a friendly against Twente Enschede on Thursday afternoon in the last international break of 2025. In drizzle, Lilla Turanyi (16’), Kristin Kögel (65’) and Paulina Bartz (69’) scored the goals for the Werkself against the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen leaders, who are still unbeaten in the league.
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