Player number 25 arrived on time at 08.30 at the Hotel Tauern Spa in Kaprun; European Championship participant Julian Baumgartlinger joined the team for the first time in the pre-season. The stalwart had a short journey to the team hotel as he spent his time off in his home country of Austria.
Baumgartlinger and his teammates were originally due to have their training session on Sunday on the pitch at the Alois Latini Stadium. However, the training session could not be held as planned as the pitches were underwater due to the heavy rainfall of the past few days.
So head coach Gerardo Seoane and his coaching staff held a session in the morning that was divided into three consisting of weight training in the hotel fitness centre, athletics training in the players area of the accommodation plus a running session.
While the outfield players remained in the hotel, the four Werkself keepers and goalkeeping coach David Thiel made the ten-minute journey to the training ground in Zell am See on Sunday. For Lukas Hradecky, new signing Andrey Lunev, Lennart Grill and Niklas Lomb there was a tactical session. Thiel: "Today we did training on defending space. At the centre of the drills were diagonal balls and low crosses where the lads had to find the right positions."
The quartet used a penalty area on the neighbouring pitch, "which, thank God, was relatively free of water," added Thiel. "It was important for us to complete this tactical session today on the pitch." Following the 45 minutes on the pitch, the focus of the goalkeepers on the last day of the week was recovery.
After lunch, sporting director Simon Rolfes met journalists who are with the Werkself for this year's training camp in the lobby of the hotel. The 39-year-old provided answers for over 45 minutes on personnel, the rest of the programme in Salzburger Land as well as the targets for the new season.
The discussions were not completely straightforward as the meeting of the media saw Rudi Völler burst in after 20 minutes. The sporting managing director at Bayer 04 gave a warm welcome to the journalists – and, as usual, he had a few quips ready. In reference to the sports kit worn by Rolfes, Völler said with a wink of the eye: "The way we look we could still play. Isn't that right, Simon?" The key statements from the Bayer 04 sporting director will be posted on the bayer04.de website on Monday morning.
Are you curious about what a day looks like for the Werkself players at the training camp? Then have a look at the story on our Bayer 04 Instagram channel. New signing Mitchel Bakker and Daley Sinkgraven provide exclusive insights of their Sunday. The Dutch duo reported on breakfast and session in the weights room. HERE is the Werkself channel.
At the same time, youngster Emrehan Gedikli takes you on a tour of the hotel on Snapchat. The 18-year-old starts the tour in his hotel room. That is followed by the kit room, the players’ lounge, the dining room – and a visit to the accommodation of Florian Wirtz. HERE is the Bayer 04 Snapchat channel.
René Rydlewicz also experienced one or two training camps in his time under the Bayer Cross (1991-94 and 1996-01/1998). The DFB Cup final winner of 1993 is now assistant coach of the Germany U18 team – and today (Sunday) he celebrates his 48th birthday. Bayer 04 wish him many happy returns.
New signing Miguel Gutiérrez arrives in Leverkusen having won the Champions League, the Spanish league title and an Olympic gold medal. However, the 25-year-old Spaniard, signed from Napoli, is looking to the future – he wants to write the next chapter of success with the Werkself. Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the skilful, attack-minded left-back, who will wear the number 3 jersey.
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The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day three (Tuesday 4 August) begins with a thorough open session on the pitch. After lunch, some players have media engagements at the team hotel, and then the team come together for a barbecue in the evening.
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Nine matches against teams from nine countries, two penalty shoot-outs won, and encounters that went far beyond football: As with last year, the Inklusionswerkself enjoyed an extraordinary week at the Genuine Cup 2026 in Houston, USA, and made memories that will last a lifetime. This year, the Leverkusen side took part as Germany’s official representatives and, accordingly, took to the pitch in Germany kit. Together with 53 teams from 53 nations, the Black and Reds once again sent a powerful message of inclusion and participation – and also impressed on the pitch by winning their group.
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The Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog, you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme for day two (Monday, 3 August) centres on two training sessions – one in the morning (open to the public) and one in the early evening (behind closed doors) – at the nearby training grounds. In the afternoon, fans can look forward to a big fan meet-up with club legend Paulo Sergio at Schloss Blankenhain.
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