Xabi Alonso held his first session at the training camp this morning on the pitches in the immediate vicinity of the team hotel. It was straight down to work in front of a large number of Werkself fans. A warm-up routine including stabilisation and stamina drills was followed by a fast-paced and long practice match. The commands of the Spanish head coach could be heard across the whole ground. Alonso intervened again and again to make minor adjustments.
Jonathan Tah trained on his own on the neighbouring pitch after having received a knock in training in Leverkusen. And Kerem Demirbay missed out after being kicked on the right foot. The 30-year-old midfielder did watch his teammates in the morning session from the sidelines.
Sardar Azmoun had to drop out of the session. The Iran international suffered a muscle injury in his left calf. He will leave for Leverkusen on Tuesday morning to start rehab in the Werkstatt at the BayArena..
Following the morning session, Victor Boniface gave his first interview to Werkself TV as a Bayer 04 player at the training ground. The 22-year-old new signing from top Belgian club Royale Union Saint-Gilloise expressed his joy at the move to Leverkusen and declared that this step was a "dream come true" for him. The interview with the Nigerian striker is HERE.
The second session in the afternoon began with rondos followed by tactical work across the whole pitch. With Werner Wenning, chair of the Bayer 04 shareholders committee, plus the fans looking on, the end of training was followed by a fun penalty competition. That was the end of the session for the first team squad but there was further action on the pitch.
A small group including sporting managing director Simon Rolfes, head coach Xabi Alonso, assistant coaches Sebastian Parrilla and Alberto Encinas, goalkeeper coach David Thiel plus team liaison manager Hans-Peter Lehnhoff had a practice match in early evening – and they produced one or two impressive moves with Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka and Amine Adli watching from the touchline. The team with World Cup winner Alonso and former Germany international Rolfes came out on top. "Let's make a friendly result of it – 14-2 or the like," said Rolfes after with a smile. The team distribution probably wasn't balanced.,,
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There will be another two training sessions on Tuesday (10.30 and 16.30 CEST – subject to late changes) open to Bayer 04 fans. After the first session in the afternoon, sporting managing director Simon Rolfes will speak to the media on site with his statements reported later on bayer04.de.
Moreover: Looking forward to the coming season and the first two home games at the BayArena, season card holders and Bayer 04 Club members can secure match tickets for the home opener against RB Leipzig and the clash with SV Darmstadt (matchday three) from noon CEST on Tuesday 25 July. Open sale starts two days later on Thursday 28 July also at noon. The early booking phase ended today leaving a small number of tickets still available. Anybody not wanting to miss the opening match should secure their tickets as soon as possible.
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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