Extra shift for Rambo Özcan
That impression was confirmed by Rambo Özcan. While his fellow players had already arrived back at the team hotel on the team bus, the number two to Bernd Leno put in extra work with goalkeeping coach David Thiel: The task at hand was to chase after low balls and cut them off. The 33-year-old Austrian was clearly enjoying himself. And the wet turf played its part too.
Play, fun and set pieces
The Werkself pros tasted fresh air in their football boots twice on Tuesday. In the first session, Heiko Herrlich's team practice set pieces and switching play. The strenuous training sessions on Tuesday made their mark on the legs of the Werkself players but the defensive part of the team gave their all and got stuck in to prevent conceding goals. Both teams develop their own strategy. Effort after effort when begging before Stefan Kießling finally got the ball over the line. The following celebrations underlined the relief at the success of their own creativity. And the joy. Kevin Volland certainly enjoyed the latter with two of his shots from free kicks impressively landing in the back of the net. The first skillfully in the top corner and the second bottom corner with the help of the wall. Never mind, the fact it went in was the main thing.
Water fight in the afternoon
The persistent rain saw the second session developed into a true water fight. Sometimes the ball got stuck in a puddle and others the difficult surface prevented a clean finish. The toughest opponent was often the pitch. Not least with efforts on goal. Team-mates slipping up entertained the others including the coaching staff.
VIP guests at training
The Werkself not only attracted fans to the Alois Latini Stadium. A number of football VIPs attended the morning session. In addition to the Bayer 04 members of management Rudi Völler and Jonas Boldt, training session was watched by the Germany team manager Oliver Bierhoff, assistant coach Marcus Sorg and DFB manager Thomas Beheshti. Plus former Bayer 04 Pro Stefan Reinartz and Marcus Kauczinski, former coach Bundesliga team FC Ingolstadt.
Football on mobile phones
The time spent waiting for the evening meal saw Sven Bender do what he likes doing best: football. He sat down in the corner of the hotel lobby and watched – later accompanied by his brother Lars – parts of the Regional League game of his first professional club 1860 Munich broadcast live. The evening entertainment continued after the meal. Unfortunately he was unable to do anything about the 1-0 defeat at TSV. Buchbach.
Takeover by Danger and Kevin Volland
There was a highly amusing story on the Bayer 04 Instagram channel today. The two mates Kevin Volland and Joel Pohjanpalo gave Bayer 04 fans an exclusive and amusing insight into the Werkself daily routine. It's worth looking in. Click here for the Instagram channel: >> www.instagram.com/bayer04fussball
#B04inAustria –For all the news and updates
Using the hashtag #B04inAustria it is possible to keep up-to-date with #Werkself and #Bayer 04 round-the-clock. There are also daily, exclusive stories from the heart of the team on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. It's worth taking a look.
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Paulo Sergio and Bayer 04 have enjoyed close ties since the Werkself training camp in his native Brazil last summer. The club legend is in charge of the Bayer 04 Soccer Academy, which opened in the summer of 2025, and he has also been at this year’s training camp in the Weimarer Land. As well as interacting with the many fans who travelled to the camp, the 1994 World Cup winner used the time to plan the next steps for the Academy together with club officials. In an interview with bayer04.de, Sergio spoke about the project’s future development, the upcoming visit by young Academy players to Leverkusen, and plans for the coming months in Germany and Brazil.
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At the training camp in the Weimarer Land region, Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez and his long-standing assistant Pol García talk about their first few weeks with the Werkself, their expectations of their own work, the coaching staff and the squad, as well as the style of football they want the team to play. They emphasise the importance of a winning mentality within the team, comment on cultural and personal differences in the world of football, and outline their goals for the coming season...
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