The Werkself women’s team entertained FC Köln early on Sunday evening in a the first friendly at Kurtekotten. Achim Feifel rang the changes in three 30-minute thirds. “We wanted to see how the different teams worked together on the pitch. Every player was able to play in her favourite position,” said the head coach. The Bayer 04 women took the lead on 38 minutes – the visitors put the ball in their own net from a corner. “We were pretty dangerous overall from corners and I liked that,” summed up Feifel, who does see the need for his defence to be more organised during transition moments. Sandra Maria Jessen doubled the lead on 52 minutes from a counter attack. FC Köln pulled a goal back from the penalty spot five minutes later – the referee spotted a ball by Nina Brüggemann. The game was abandoned on 76 minutes due to a thunderstorm.
The coaching staff were able to get a first look at their players after the summer break at the weekend: The Bundesliga women’s team beat the Bayer 04 women’s second team 5-0. Milena Nikolic (51’+ 54’), Henrike Sahlmann (60’), Jessica Wich (69’) and Juliane Wirtz (76’) scored the goals.
The first members of the Bayer 04 women’s squad met up at Kurtekotten at 07.15 CEST on Monday morning. Following coronavirus tests, the team bus was loaded and Achim Feifel and his squad headed off for a one-week training camp in Westerwald. The team will be based on Wiesensee until Sunday, 23 August. “The hotel is quite secluded and we will be able to fully focus on training and, above all, work on fitness and tactics. There will also be team building activities – that helps bonding,” said Feifel.
There will be up to three coaching sessions a day in Westerwald and there should have been a friendly against the Standard Liege women’s team at the end of the week on Saturday, 22 August. However, due to coronavirus restrictions, the Belgian top-flight side are not allowed to travel abroad and the game has been called off at short notice. As an alternative, the women’s team will play an internal eleven-a-side practice match.
With the exception of the injured Pauline Wimmer (torn cruciate) and Nicole Banecki (back problems), all the players will be at the training camp. Antonia Göransson has returned home to Sweden. The contract with the 29-year-old has been terminated by mutual agreement. Göransson will play for the Swedish club Växjö DFF this season.
Bayer 04 will have to manage without defender Guéla Doué for the time being. The Ivory Coast international sustained a muscle injury to his right calf during the final Werkself training session yesterday ahead of the Europa League clash with Slovenian champions NK Celje.
Show more
Two home matches on Saturday afternoons and three long away trips: the German Football Association (DFB) has finalised the fixtures for a further five matchdays in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. This means all of the Bayer 04 Women’s team league fixtures are now confirmed up to the end of November.
Show more
Construction work continues on the ‘Haus der Talente’ on Kurtekottenweg in Leverkusen, where 36 young elite athletes will find a new home from next summer. The building team from Temmink Bau, led by Thomas Wellers, are hard at work. Over the past few days, excavators, wheeled loaders and rollers have removed 2,500 cubic metres of soil to excavate the basement.
Show more
In a top-quality encounter, the Bayer 04 women’s team lost 3-2 at home to Bayern Munich. Paulina Tomasiak opened the scoring with a free-kick (36’) and also netted a superb goal to make it 2–1 (52’). Vanessa Gilles (51') and Edna Imade (68') equalised for FC Bayern in a fast-paced and extremely entertaining match. Alara Sehitler sealed the win late on for the reigning champions.
Show more
