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.
The Golden Boy Top 100 traditionally lists Europe’s most promising young players. In the latest update, published to mark the start of the new season, four current Werkself players – alongside loanee Francis Onyeka – feature on the list. This means Bayer 04 have the most players in contention of any Bundesliga club.
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Goalkeeper Rafaela Borggräfe will continue to play for Bayer 04 Leverkusen next season. The loan of the Germany U23 international, who joined from Liverpool in the winter, has been extended by a further year.
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The Bayer 04 delegation, led by Fernando Carro, CEO, concluded their multi-day trip to Brazil with a visit to the community-based organisation Bola Pra Frente in Rio de Janeiro – founded by former Werkself player Jorginho. During the visit, Bayer 04 committed to extending support for the Bola Pra Frente project for a further five years. In addition, Jorginho, a member of the Brazil 1994 World Cup-winning squad, was named Bayer 04’s second official club legend. With the visit to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the club has strengthened the relationships built up over the years in one of Bayer 04’s most important international markets.
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Ten years after retiring as a player, Kristina Sundov is returning to the Bayer 04 Women’s team as assistant coach. The 39-year-old former Croatia international takes over from Remzi Kahraman, who has taken up a new challenge abroad. She has been given a contract to 30 June 2028.
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The training pitches at the BayArena are already buzzing with activity again, even before training officially begins next week. On Monday morning, a small group from the Werkself first-team squad completed a session lasting around an hour. Both new and familiar faces were present.
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