
With an extremely short recovery period, Heiko Herrlich has to get his players fit again and ready for the next opponent within three days. "It was a special situation and we didn't plan the defect of course. That's why I sent the players home," said the head coach at the pre-match press conference ahead of the Mainz game. All of the first-team squad are to complete their regeneration sessions at home as an exception – whether that's by walking or riding a bike. "It doesn't make sense for everybody to drive home and then return in the afternoon. Sleep is the best regeneration. Everybody should recover well – and then we'll get back together tomorrow for training."
Players with knocks – the Bender twins, Paulinho, Wendell and Dominik Kohr – were treated immediately on arrival at the BayArena. Heiko Herrlich did not have any worries about the latter named: "With Wendell, I'm assuming we'll sort it out in good time. Sven Bender's problem with his neck before the game against Rasgrad was unexpected but we are hopeful he may be able to play on Sunday." The 46-year-old coach was more reserved in his assessment of Lars Bender: "Lars went into yesterday's game with a knock. He gritted his teeth and fought his way through. In the second half he was on his last legs so I took him off. We'll have to see what happens today and tomorrow."
Regardless of the recovery phase – the Bayer 04 coach hopes to be able to "take the momentum from the Europa League into the Mainz game" and improve the record (ten wins, four draws, ten defeats). "I hope the team has taken a small step forwards." After three defeats in the first three Bundesliga matches, he wants to prove at the almost sold out family matchday, "that we're still hungry. Football is a competitive game and I hope we've absorbed the experience from Rasgrad." On Sunday, the boss is looking for Bayer 04 to produce a determined performance against Mainz who are currently in sixth place with seven points from three games.
The fact that the opposition will be fresh and rested for Sunday's game and don't have to struggle with travel strains is no excuse in the eyes of the head coach. "If you're playing in Europe then you have to live with it. It's all in the mind! You have to work, switch off and then get back at it the next day. You only have to jump that hurdle in your head once," said Herrlich. "Our lads are fit and they'll show that on Sunday."


In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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