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.
The final whistle of the current 2025/26 season marks the end of a unique partnership for Bayer 04 Leverkusen. After more than three decades of collaboration and highly eventful times, the Bundesliga football club and the private brewery Bitburger are going their separate ways.
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Around four months after their bitter exit in the DFB Pokal Round of 16, the Bayer 04 Women are once again away to Hamburger SV. On Monday night (18:00 CEST), the Werkself will not only be looking to pick up important points in the final phase of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga at the Volksparkstadion, but also to make amends for their defeat on penalties.
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A simple approach to sport with games, fun and a highlight at the end: Bayer 04 organised a very special training session for 40 participants aged between six and 27 in cooperation with the Football Association of the Middle Rhine (FVM). At the day of action for women and girls with disabilities at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, many of the participants gained their first experience of football.
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On Saturday, 28 March, the lights will go out again at the BayArena from 20:30 pm to 21:30. As in previous years, Bayer 04 once again take part in the WWF Earth Hour campaign under the motto "We're switching off" as the club wants to set a collective example for more climate and environmental protection together with people, cities and companies around the world.
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