
Day two of the eighth summer training camp in Zell am See started with an intensive session for the Werkself on the pitch next to the Alois Latini Stadium. At a height of 757 metres located between Schmittenhöhe and Erlberg, Jonathan Tah and Co. completed numerous running drills under the guidance of fitness coach Daniel Jouvin and Dr. Malte Krüger, the head sports scientist. The first session of the day in Zell am See ended with a practice match on the main pitch.







While the teammates made their way towards the team bus, Mitchell Weiser and Lucas Alario had a duel on the basketball court. A shoot-out from distance: NBA fan Weiser put Alario, who comes from the basketball nation of Argentina, in his place thanks to his accurate shooting.
While Karim Bellarabi and Demarai Gray trained individually due to muscle problems suffered the day before, Alario and Zidan Sertdemir were involved in the majority of the morning session. After the training session, head coach Gerardo Seoane shared his assessment of the 16-year-old Sertdemir. The Swiss on the new signing from the Danish top-flight club FC Midtjylland: "Zidan is highly talented and has very good attributes - vision and ball control. He will always train with us but not at every session. He's just still very young. Therefore, it's important to build him up step-by-step and take him up to the next level."

The general conditions on site are already at a very good level. "The hotel is very big and we have everything here that we need," said the new Werkself head coach. "And the pitches are in good condition in spite of the bad weather. We're looking forward to the rest of the week."
The Werkself started the second session by Lake Zeller in the afternoon. Alario and Sertdemir sat out training and remained in the Hotel Tauern Spa while their teammates focused on working with the ball. In a tight corridor, passing and attacking moves were practised with and without pressure from opponents. There was a match at the end. While Kerem Demirbay and Co. made their way back to the hotel on the team bus, sporting director Simon Rolfes opted to run. The 39-year-old managed the seven kilometres without any problems – however, he was soaked to the skin due to the rain.
Midfielder Nadiem Amiri did not travel to Austria. The 24-year-old is preparing with the Germany team in Japan for the Olympic Games football tournament. However, a friendly between the team coached by Stefan Kuntz and Honduras on Saturday morning was ended early. Just before the end of the game, the entire Germany team left the pitch with the score at 1-1. Kuntz explained afterwards that central defender Jordan Torunarigha (Hertha Berlin) had been "racially abused." According to Kuntz, the team from the Central American country apologised after the final whistle and the issue "is over for us," but Bayer 04 would again like to emphasise at this point: We believe in diversity and condemn all forms of racism.

After being nominated for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025, Martin Terrier's wonderful strike for the opener against FC Köln is now also up for selection for the ARD Sportschau Goal of the Month award for December 2025. Bayer 04 fans have until 19:00 CET on 10 January to vote for the French forward.
Show more
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 more
"In every ending lies a new beginning" is a well-known saying. This phrase has probably never been more apt at Bayer 04. After winning the Bundesliga in 2023/24 and finishing as runners-up in 2024/25, the summer was the most eventful ever in terms of transfers. Over ten players and the coach, including the coaching staff, left the club. A lot of the heroes of the double-winning side began a new chapter. It was the end of an era. And at the same time the beginning of a new, very exciting and promising chapter for Leverkusen. The Werkself welcomed more than a dozen new arrivals, including experienced title-winners and young talents, to build a new "foundation for a successful team capable of winning titles" under the Bayer Cross, as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. A new spirit, a new hunger, a new story was to be created. Bayer04.de looks back at the first few months of this story and the final act of the preseason.
Show more
43 points at the end of the last Bundesliga season were not only more than ever before for the Bayer 04 Women, but also led to a record fourth-place finish. That was followed by a Hinrunde with many more victories, but also some setbacks. In an interview with bayer04.de, sporting director Achim Feifel takes stock at the end of the year.
Show more
With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
Show more