The fans waited around 90 minutes at the training ground for the Werkself players to secure sought-after autographs or selfies.
After the training session, Granit Xhaka was involved in another special activity: the now traditional children's press conference at the Bayer 04 Soccer School. Xhaka, who received rapturous applause in a packed out press conference room, revealed to the 100 youngsters present that teammate Jeremie Frimpong was "by far" the funniest teammate in the dressing room and that the winner in the 1-0 victory in the 2024 DFB Pokal final against FC Kaiserslautern ranks amongst the best and most important goals of his career, which he "will not forget in a hurry."
The Switzerland international also revealed to the children why he wears the number 34 jersey: "I always used to travel to training sessions in Basel on the number 34 bus route. When I was allowed to choose a squad number at Basel there were five available including 34. I took that number – and I still like wearing it today."
On winning the Bundesliga title last season, the midfield maestro said: "Sometimes I still can't believe it. Particularly as the way we won – unbeaten – was so special. There were very many beautiful emotions last year. We all knew the history of the club and the wait of 120 years. It was incredible – for us, for the club and for the fans."
While Granit Xhaka brought great joy to the children at the Bayer 04 Soccer School with his remarks, Nathan Tella spoke to a small group of the media after the training session: "We are focused on the remaining games. I will remain positive and confident as long as it's still mathematically possible. We'll definitely keep going and give our all!"
On his time at Bayer 04 to date, he said: "I received a really good reception at Leverkusen. I got off to a rather slow start here and it took a while to find my feet. Now I’ve found my position, I feel really good and I see my future here at Bayer 04. Coming here was definitely good for my own development."
Winger Synne Skinnes Hansen is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the end of the season. The 29-year-old, who will be out of contract, is set to join Valerenga IF back home in Norway.
Show moreRüdiger 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 moreAnalysing and further developing goalkeeping together is the target of the annual goalkeeping coaches meeting of the German Football Association (DFB). The goalkeeping coaches in the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the third division, divided into regional groups, meet every year under the guidance of DFB goalkeeping coordinator Marc Ziegler. Following 2023, the meeting of the goalkeeping coaches of professional clubs from the Western region took place yesterday, Tuesday 29 April, at the BayArena for the second time. The Werkself goalkeeping coach David Thiel acted as the host of the meeting and he made an impromptu contribution.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed to loan U19 striker Artem Stepanov to FC Nürnberg, currently tenth in Bundesliga 2, for the 2025/26 season. The Ukrainian centre-forward is set to gain match practice at a high level under the guidance of FCN coach and World Cup winner Miroslav Klose. The loan is due to run for twelve months.
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