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.
Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
Show more
It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
Show more
He’s done it: Patrik Schick also found the back of the net in Bayer 04’s 2–1 win over SC Freiburg on Matchday six of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season – a club record! In what was a high-quality match from the word go, the Werkself were briefly rattled by the visitors’ opener from Derry Scherhant in the 14th minute but fought back with an equaliser from Ibrahim Maza just six minutes later. In the second half, the Black and Reds took control on their home turf and secured a well-earned win through record-holder Schick. In doing do, the Werkself inflicted the first defeat of the season on the club from the Black Forest.
Show more
It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
Show more
Under Carles Martínez, the Werkself have so far proved unbeatable at the BayArena. The Spaniard has led his team to victory in all three of their most recent home matches – and, it's worth noting, without conceding a single goal. On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST / live on DAZN and Werkself Radio), current league leaders SC Freiburg will make the trip to Leverkusen, but will be without their top scorer. What's more, the Werkself have won all three of their previous home matches against the Black Forest club. With a goal, Patrik Schick could not only secure a fourth consecutive victory but also set a memorable record. Meanwhile, on what will be the ‘Health Day' at the BayArena, much of the focus will be on physical wellbeing. Today's matchday news.
Show more
