After the 1-1 draw in the friendly against Basaksehir, Heiko Herrlich announced the training ground at the Alois Latini Stadium in Zell am See would remain (almost) empty on Friday. The Werkself footballs stayed in their black bags. Instead the squad split up into groups at the team hotel to work on the fixed bikes in the gym. Only Lukas Hradecky was on the pitch as he completed a rehab session with goalkeeping coach David Thiel.
Following the departure of Panos Retsos from the training camp the medics had to put another Werkself pro on the injury list – at least temporarily: Leon Bailey will miss team training for a few days due to a strained ligament in his right shoulder. The 20-year-old picked up the injury in Thursday's friendly when he landed badly in a challenge on 70 minutes. The Jamaican had his arm in a black shoulder-arm bandage for the whole day on Friday. Get well soon, Leon.
After the recovery session and a team meeting, the Werkself squad headed off to the Grand Hotel in Zell am See. SalzburgerLand Tourismus GmbH and Zell am See-Kaprun Tourismus, a partner of Bayer 04 for six years, issued an invitation to a traditional reception with yodellers and Schuhplattler dancers. While Rudi Völler, Heiko Herrlich, Julian Baumgartlinger and Rambo Özcan, after a photograph together on the sun-drenched terrace at the Grand Hotel, took part in a 'summer talk show' for the media present, the rest of the Werkself went the other way. According to the motto: Dig into the lunch buffet! At the media event, Völler praised the "great care and very good facilities" – from the training pitches in Zell am See to the team hotel in Kaprun. And Herrlich also provided a positive interim assessment: "We've worked very well so far – both in terms of fitness and tactics. We are much further on compared with last year and we want to show that soon.“
Heiko Herrlich gave his players (and his fellow coaches) the afternoon and evening off. While the head coach spent time in the spa area at the hotel, the Bavarian-Austrian tour group of Lars and Sven Bender, Kevin Volland, Julian Baumgartlinger and Rambo Özcan went on a trip the Alpine reservoirs in Kaprun. A group of coaches led by assistant coach Nico Schneck had a similar destination when went on mountain bikes to the nearby Lake Klamm.
In the afternoon, the new chairman of the board Fernando Carro and Meinolf Sprink (community/fan director) met the travelling fans on the terrace at the team hotel. The 50 loyal supporters of the Werkself were invited to coffee and cold drinks and, after the welcome address, they were able to put their questions to the 54-year-old club boss. Carro promised, amongst other things, to do all he can to bring success to Leverkusen this season. Rudi Völler joined in later on to back up the words of his fellow managing director.
For Carro's predecessor, Michael Schade, it was a case of saying goodbye again. The former CEO arrived at the team hotel on Thursday. On Friday, the partners presented him with a gift hamper at the sponsors event in Zell am See and later had a private dinner with the Bayer 04 directors and club management.
After dinner there was suddenly a lively atmosphere amongst the Werkself around eight o'clock. A lot of the players wanted to watch the opening game of the second division campaign between Hamburg SV and Holstein Kiel. Benny Henrichs, Jonathan Tah and Karim Bellarabi enjoyed exciting challenges on the Playstation. Talking of which: The Werkself are back on the training ground on Saturday. There are two sessions at 9.15 and 17.30, which are the last two at the Alois Latini Stadium in Zell am See before Sunday's departure from Kaprun and the friendly in Grödig against Al-Wahda Mecca (15.30 CET).
Using the hashtag #B04inAustria, fans have round the clock access to news about the #Werkself and #Bayer04. On top of that, there are exclusive stories from the heart of the team on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat every day.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss against SGS Essen on the 11th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
Show more
An unfortunate end to a hard-fought game from Bayer 04's point of view: The Bayer 04 Women worked hard against bottom-of-the-table SGS Essen, but lacked penetration in attack for long periods of the game. The goal scored by Essen's Natasha Kowalski (58'), that saw the otherwise flawless goalkeeper Anne Moll unfortunately slip, was enough to inflict a third consecutive defeat on Roberto Pätzold's team.
Show more
VfL Wolfsburg, without a win against Bayer 04 at home in the Volkswagen Arena for over ten years, will be looking to reverse the trend following the recent dismissal of their coach and sporting director. Werkself coach Kasper Hjulmand, who will be reunited with several Wolves players he knows from his time as the Denmark head coach, will do everything in his power to continue Leverkusen's unbeaten run in the Autostadt. The match against VfL Wolfsburg will also include Germany's bid to host the UEFA Women's EURO 2029. Today’s matchday news.
Show more
Following the international break, Bayer 04 are away to VfL Wolfsburg on Bundesliga matchday 11 in 2025/26, on Saturday, 22 November (kick-off: 15:30 CET) in the first of eight matches between now and Christmas. Ahead of the game at the Volkswagen Arena, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the Wolves, the reunion with some familiar faces and the latest updates on his own squad.
Show more
VfL Wolfsburg are looking for a fresh start after parting company with head coach Paul Simonis and sporting director Sebastian Schindzielorz during the recent international break. The Wolves are looking to kick off their revival this Saturday, 22 November (kick-off: 15:30 CET), in the home game against the Werkself. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
