+++ 19 July, 13.32: Erik ten Hag meets Filipe Luís +++
After training, Erik ten Hag, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes caught up with Flamengo coach and former defender Filipe Luís. His team play city rivals Fluminense at the Maracana tomorrow evening, which the Werkself will go and watch.
+++ 19 July, 13.03: Beach then pitch for Hincapie and Belocian +++
Piero Hincapie and Jeanuel Belocian were working on their own on a nearby pitch with fitness coach Daniel Jouvin as they continue their recoveries. The previous day had seen the pair working out on the beach outside the team hotel, including a cooling off in the sea, prior to the friendly match.
+++ 19 July, 12.56: Action on the pitch with Quansah, Kofane and Maza +++
The team’s latest intense training session is now over. With the sun beaming down over Rio, they started off with a warm-up and some rondos before taking to small pitches, with Ibrahim Maza involved again. Fellow new signings Jarell Quansah and Christian Kofane also joined with the team for the first time after doing individual work a couple of days ago. The session finished with a gruelling set of endurance runs.
+++ 19 July, 10.47: 30-year reunion +++
Before turning to training, we had some emotional scenes this morning as old teammates met again at the hotel for the first time in some 30 years. You can read more about that HERE.
+++ 19 July, 09.23 Uhr: Training and Wonder of the World +++
Bom dia from Brazil! There’s no rest for the Werkself this Saturday as they gear up for their morning training session in a couple of hours. After lunch and a rest back at the hotel, the team will then head off for a look at Christ the Redeemer, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, to take in the sunset over Rio de Janeiro. More on that later…
Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
Show more
The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
Show more
Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
Show more
A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
Show more
