FC Porto are currently on an eleven-day training camp at the Kamen-Kaiserau Sports Centre near Dortmund. Their squad includes internationally famous players like Iker Casillas, Hector Herrera and Ruben Neves. FC Porto have regularly played European football for years. They lifted the European Cup in 1987 and the Champions League in 2004 plus the UEFA Cup and the Europa League (2003, 2011). Porto have won the Portuguese league 31 times and 16 domestic cup competitions.
The team us managed by Nuno Santo. The young Portuguese coach is successor to Julen Lopetegui who is moving to manage the Spanish national team. Under Lopetegui FC Porto finished third in the league behind Benfica and Sporting Lisbon last term putting them in the play-offs for the Champions League.
Bayer 04 are familiar with that scenario from the previous two Champions League campaigns. This year is a different story with pre-season building up to competitive matches in the DFB Cup and then the Bundesliga. This fifth friendly may give fans the opportunity to see Tin Jedvaj, Admir Mehmedi and Charles Aránguiz plus U19 European Championship players Lukas Boeder and Benny Henrichs in action. All five returned to training this week.
Advice to fans
Hosts SV Bergisch Gladbach 09 have announced that nationwide stadium bans apply to Wednesday night's match against FC Porto at the Belkaw Arena.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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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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