A final and important decision was made at the end of the pre-season. Feifel and his assistant coach Jacqueline Dünker appointed a new captain on Thursday. The choice – made in conjunction with the players – was the long-standing Leverkusener player Jessica Wich. The 30-year-old joined Leverkusen in 2014 and she enjoys “great respect in the team” according to Feifel. Summer signing Nina Brüggemann was chosen as vice-captain.
The appointment of the former Essen player is a sign of the well functioning integration of new signings at the Werkself Women to date. A total of ten new faces have been brought in via transfers. “You never know how quickly the team will knit together after such a big change like that,” Feifel explained. “But we’ve got a good feeling after the pre-season.”
The 56-year-old manager is in confident mood ahead of the new campaign not least because of the one-week training camp at the Sporthotel Lindner in Westerwald. “A lot of our players have jobs, go to school or study. We had a couple of full days there where we able to do detailed work in peace and quiet,” said Feifel.
A 5-0 win in an internal friendly against the second eleven was followed by a clash with neighbours FC Köln. The game was abandoned with fifteen minutes to play due to a thunderstorm. That was the only friendly against an external opponent as the planned games against Standard Liege and PSV Eindhoven were called off due to the developments in the coronavirus pandemic. “The game against Eindhoven, in particular, would have been a good marker for us,” Feifel declared. “Now, we’ll get the first feedback from our pre-season at Freiburg.”
The hosts from Freiburg have published a statement on their website relating to spectators ahead of the game at the Möslestadion: “Due to the current developments and regulations, home games will be played in front of a small number of selected spectators until further notice. This group includes relatives of the players and employees of the club.”
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…
Show moreTo all Bayer 04 fans: The Fanwelt will be closed all day next Monday 30 June. This is due to preparations for the change of kit supplier from Castore to New Balance on Tuesday 1 July.
Show moreThe Norway U23 international Julie Jorde has completed the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Brøndby IF. The twelve-time champions of Denmark have signed the midfielder on permanent terms after her loan move from the Bundesliga to Denmark in the winter.
Show moreIt is almost two years since Bayer 04 new signing Abdoulaye Faye first stepped foot into the BayArena as a player for the Swedish club BK Häcken in the opening match in the 2023/24 Europa League campaign. A day before his nineteenth birthday, the central defender did not play in the 4-0 win for the Werkself but it was "an incredible night" for him on 21 September 2023 as he explained in his first interview on bayer04.de. "I watched the players and saw the fans. I liked it." It was also the first European night early on in his career. He only joined the then champions of Sweden in the cold north of Europe from his home in Senegal a few weeks before that special moment. Bayer04.de profiles our new defender.
Show moreWelcome, Abdoulaye Faye. The 20-year-old Senegalese central defender joins Leverkusen from top-flight Swedish club BK Häcken. In his first interview he talks about his move to Bayer 04 and his targets with the Werkself.
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