Now the Werkself can focus completely on the Bundesliga campaign: The Bosz charges have eleven games left this season including electrifying encounters with direct rivals for a European finish from Hoffenheim (29 March, 20.30 CET), Leipzig (6 April, 15.30 CET) and Frankfurt (3 to 6 May, to be confirmed). There are 33 points up for grabs – and, ideally, Peter Bosz would like to take the complete haul as he declared after the Dortmund game. Saturday sees the start with a home game against FC Freiburg kicking off at 15.30 CET.
Wednesday morning saw the start of preparations for the game against the team lying thirteenth in the table who are currently unbeaten in four games. In a 90-Minute session in springlike sunshine, the focus was on passing, moves, finishing and ended with a practice match. The werkself skipper Lars Bender was again able to train with the team, as he did on Friday, after recovering from a hamstring injury. Karim Bellarabi (hamstring) and Lucas Alario (rested) completed individual workouts in the facilities at the BayArena along with Joel Pohjanpalo who is currently recovering from an ankle injury.
And there was positive news for Panos Retsos. The 20-year-old Greek returned to training alongside his team-mates in a 60-minute session on a neighbouring pitch. That means he could soon return to full training.
Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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Bayer 04 start the 2026/27 season away to third-division side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Ahead of the DFB Pokal tie on Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez spoke at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The topics: anticipation, passion, the fans’ support – and the captaincy for the new season.
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After 62 days of preparation, the time has finally come: the Werkself kick off the new Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga season on Sunday (16:00 CEST) with an away match at RB Leipzig. Following a major shake-up over the summer, with eleven players leaving and twelve new signings, initial impressions from the past few weeks have given manager Roberto Pätzold great cause for optimism.
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SV Wehen Wiesbaden undoubtedly envisaged a different start to the new season. After two matchdays, the Hessen side currently sit bottom of the Liga 3 table. On Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), SVWW host the Werkself in the first round of the DFB Pokal at their home ground, the BRITA Arena. It was there, in this very competition a year ago, that the club almost pulled off a massive upset. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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