The absence of the skipper Lars Bender was a purely precautionary move according to Herrlich after his late withdrawal ahead of the Augsburg game – there is no reason to think he will not be fit for the match away to RB Leipzig on Monday night (9 April, 20.30 CET). The 28-year-old trained on his own at the BayArena for that reason.
Herrlich also indicated Jonathan Tah and Joel Pohjanpalo should be ok. The latter has returned to light training after the injury to his right ankle and is expected to rejoin full training in the second half of the week. Tah is very likely to make an earlier return. He was kicked on the thigh near the end of Saturday's game. "The doctors are very positive and he will definitely be fit by Monday. He may even return to training tomorrow," said Herrlich after the training session on Tuesday.
Herrlich and his fellow coaches concentrated on working on the indecision in finishing evident in recent games - shooting was on the agenda. "Of course, the pressure on us has increased after the defeats against Hertha and Köln. We particularly lacked precision in the final third and we were untidy at times. We will continue to work on being more focused," said Herrlich looking forward to the important game in Leipzig that ends matchday 29 with the Werkself keen to pick up three points.
Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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Assistant coach Remzi Kahraman is leaving the Bayer 04 Women’s team with immediate effect to take up a new challenge abroad. The club has agreed to the 31-year-old’s request to leave, although his contract was originally due to run until 2027. A decision on his successor will be announced shortly.
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At the U19 European Championship in Wales, the Germany U19 national team lost their third and final group match 4-0 to Spain. Several regulars, including Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan to SV Elversberg), who had combined for four goals and assists in the two previous victories, did not feature,. Germany had already secured their place in the semi-finals with a game to spare.
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Two weeks into the preseason, the Bayer 04 Women have secured their first victory. Coach Roberto Pätzold’s team won their first friendly 2–0 against Bundesliga newcomers Mainz 05. In front of 160 spectators at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, the two summer signings, Maja Sternad (80’) and Justine Brandau (90’), scored for the Black and Reds.
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