Set pieces were the focus of the last session in Saalfelden. Head coach Xabi Alonso also put in a few free kicks and crosses into the penalty area. That was followed by a range of passing drills and moves as well as work on maintaining possession. Then came the end of the first training camp for Bayer 04 in Saalfelden.
Head coach Xabi Alonso shared his assessment of the training camp after the session: "We achieved most things we set out to do this week. We've trained a lot here and next week will be different with three games one after the other.”
The Spaniard and his team are travelling on to San Sebastian for a friendly in a good cause (see below) away to Spanish Champions League side Real Sociedad to be played tomorrow Saturday. For Alonso it is a return to his hometown. The Bayer 04 head coach was emotional ahead of his return: "A year ago I was working there as a coach. I have a very close connection to the city, my hometown and to the club where I had a season ticket since I was six years old. I will meet up with a lot of people again and lots of players who I trained last year. I'm really looking forward to it."
Alonso said the following about the opponents Real Sociedad: "They are a really strong team. They didn't qualify for the Champions League last season for no reason and they also won the Spanish Cup in 2020. But, of course, we want to produce a good performance and we also want to win."
The following players are in the squad for the friendly against Real Sociedad: Lukas Hradecky, Jonathan Tah, Odilon Kossounou, Jonas Hofmann, Nadiem Amiri, Edmond Tapsoba, Arthur, Noah Mbamba, Alejandro Grimaldo, Amine Adli, Victor Boniface, Adam Hlozek, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Exequiel Palacios, Florian Wirtz, Patrick Pentz, Jeremie Frimpong, Gustavo Puerta, Granit Xhaka, Niklas Lomb and Ayman Aourir. The following youth team players Jesper Schlich, Madi Monamay and Matija Marsenic are also with the group. And U19 defender U19 Reno Münz is joining the squad from Leverkusen.
Robert Andrich, Patrik Schick and Kerem Demirbay (due to a slight knock) plus youth players Oleksandr Petrenko and Anton Bäuerle are heading back to Germany. Sardar Azmoun left the training camp at the start of the week due to a muscle injury in his left calf.
The charity match at Real Sociedad kicks off at 18.00 CEST tomorrow Saturday at the Reale Arena in San Sebastian. The match is being played in aid of the Fundación Columbus. Their mission is to raise funds for research into rare diseases and find treatments for these diseases through gene therapy. For head coach Xabi Alonso the journey to San Sebastian is also return to his hometown.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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Bayer 04’s eight opponents in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League have been confirmed. At the draw on Friday 28 August held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Werkself were drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots. There are a total of four home and four away matches. Read on for details of opponents and fixture dates.
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In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-3 loss at SV 07 Elversberg on Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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