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.
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
Show more
Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
Show more
High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
Show more
The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
Show more
They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
Show more
