"It's been a long time for us without football," said U19 coach Sven Hübscher following the 75-minute first session of the New Year. "It's great to be back on the pitch."
The 42-year-old coach welcomed a new member of his coaching staff on Friday: The Spaniard Erik Roqueta, most recently head of the fitness section at Mexican top-flight side Chivas de Guadalajara, took charge of the running part of the opening session as the new fitness coach. Hübscher: "It's important for us to be able to bring in a man like Erik for the fitness area. The lads will be able to take a huge step forwards."
The first U19 training session was also attended by Bayer 04 sporting director Simon Rolfes and Thomas Eichin (head of the Performance Centre). In addition, Werkself head coach Gerardo Seoane with his assistants Patrick Schnarwiler and Alberto Encinas also looked in after the final pre-match training session for the first team.
The next session for the eldest youth group at the Werkself is tomorrow (Saturday). "The first two days are for the lads to get used to the ball and the pitch again after a four-week break," explained Hübscher. After a day off on Sunday, "it will really get going again from Monday."
The first friendly for the U19s is on Saturday, 15 January, against the SC Fortuna Köln U23 team. The match against the Middle Rhine League side at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre kicks off at 11.00 CET. The first match in the U19 Bundesliga West is away to Borussia Dortmund on the first weekend in February.
Video game developer Electronic Arts (EA), in collaboration with the Bundesliga, has announced the six nominees for the Bundesliga Player of the Month award for October 2026 – and Bayer 04’s Ibrahim Maza is among them. Fans of the Black and Reds can vote from now until Sunday 8 November (23:59 CET).
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On Tuesday night, the Leverkusen e-sports team played the first three of their six group stage matches in the second round of the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship. They were unable to secure more than a draw in either of their matches against FC Augsburg and VfB Stuttgart. The match against Bayern Munich ended in defeat.
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Once again, several Werkself players are set to represent their respective national teams during the final international break of the calendar year. Here is an overview of the Leverkusen players called up for international duty and the match dates. This will be updated regularly.
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The Bundesliga has announced the nominees for the ‘Top Goal of the Month’ award for October. Fans of the Werkself can now vote for, amongst others, Robert Andrich’s stunning volley from the match against Mainz 05 or Moussa Diaby’s curling shot into the top corner from the same fixture. Voting, exclusively on the Bundesliga app, remains open until Sunday, 8 November (23:59 CET).
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