The Werkself coach talked about...
...the personnel situation: "Everybody returned from Larnaca fit and well and nobody is complaining about serious injury. With the players left behind with slight knocks, we will probably have Jonathan Tah and Karim Bellarabi available again. There is still a big question mark over Sven Bender – we will probably make a decision about his availability for Sunday tomorrow."
...targets: „"We have the chance with a victory – which is obviously our aim – to get within two points of Eintracht Frankfurt. Then we would be where we want to be – or at least heading in the right direction. I have the feeling the team has finally found their way out of a difficult phase and are ready to take the next step."
..the opposition: "The table never lies and Frankfurt have had a great season so far. After a difficult start, Adi Hütter (Eintracht Frankfurt coach, ed.) has done an incredible job. They play unbelievably intensive and all-out football, similar to the way Jürgen Klopp's way of playing football. In the statistics on intensive runs per game and in the ground covered they are amongst the top teams. They've had a very good first half of the season – it feels like the best in the last ten years."
...Eintracht's front three: "It's impressive the way Luka Jovic, Sébastien Haller and Ante Rebic have played this season. It will be incredibly important to get a grip of them on Sunday. The same actually applies to Makoto Hasebe, their driving force in midfield, who we will also have to take out of the game – but according to press reports he is unlikely to play (due to a muscle injury Suffered in the Europa League game against Lazio on Thursday, ed.)."
...the Werkself attitude: "We were able to beat Frankfurt twice last season. In both games, we showed the mentality needed to win games like that. In the away game at Frankfurt, I remember the opening goal well when Julian Brandt won the ball in his own penalty area, we quickly played up field down the left flank and Kevin Volland was in the middle to score the goal. That ability to accept defensive responsibility – as Jule brilliantly showed – will definitely be needed on Sunday."
…the approach : "We have to be wide-awake, be very compact and really try never to let the Frankfurt attack us in a one-on-one so that they can't dribble facing our goal. We have to make sure that everybody really helps defend."


Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 4-0 victory in the friendly match against KRC Genk...
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In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...