
Gerardo Seoane on…
…the first days in Zell am See-Kaprun: We had a relaxed journey here and are happy with everything to date. As with every year, we have great conditions here – the pitch is brilliant, the hotel is great. The crucial thing at a training camp above all is for us to have all the players together for a longer period of time. Then we have enough time to work with the individual players and also able to have lots of discussions as a team and individually.
…the timing of the training camp: As we wanted to have all the players on board at the training camp, we consciously decided to travel later this time. Last year a lot of players were still at the European Championships at the time of the training camp. Now we are all here and are already a step further on. That means we are able to be more targeted in our work this week. We want to put the content of the previous sessions into practice in the friendly against Panathinaikos and then the training content from the other days in the game against Udinese.

…the state of play with the Werkself: We've more or less had this set-up for over a year and that's an important point. At the start of last season, we faced one or two challenges above all due to the signing of a lot of young players in defence. They have all developed extremely well since then. Therefore, I believe we are much more solid.

You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 4-0 victory in the friendly match against KRC Genk...
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In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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