Bayer 04 will be without the services of goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky longer than expected in the pre-season. In the operation to remove a wisdom tooth on Friday, the Finn also had to have a cyst removed from his jaw. The unscheduled operation was a success although it does involve a significantly longer recovery period due to the work on the jaw. Hradecky is expected to return to training in three to five weeks.
"We have a very strong set of goalkeepers and we will be able to make up for the loss and we have great confidence in Ramazan Özcan and Thorsten Kirschbaum," said head coach Heiko Herrlich, who only received the bad news at the BayArena following the afternoon training session. "I'm most sorry for Lukas who joined us full of ambition and now has to watch from the sidelines," added Herrlich. "But he is in the best hands with our medical section and the coaches and the players will do all they can to support Lukas. He will be given time to recover completely."
Like last year, Bayer 04 Women held their summer training camp in Rieden. Coach Roberto Pätzold gives his assessment of the time in the Upper Palatinate, discusses the integration of the 11 new players and the unusual team building measures, gives his thoughts on the friendly and looks ahead to the start of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga season in August.
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Just in time for the start of the summer holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Werkself will hold another open training session on Tuesday 21 July. The session at the BayArena is scheduled to start at 11:00 CEST and will again be available to watch in a live stream. The fans who are there can look forward to a very special surprise.
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Bayer 04 turned in a dominant performance in a 7-0 win against fifth-tier side Sportfreunde Baumberg in their first friendly ahead of the 2026/27 season. A brace from debutant Afonso Moreira (19', 27') either side of a Christian Kofane strike (23') put the Werkself 3-0 up in the first of the two 35-minute halves in Monheim am Rhein. After the break, Victor Boniface (49', 53'), Robert Andrich (56') and Nathan Tella (67') scored for the completely changed Leverkusen team. It was therefore a successful friendly debut for new head coach Carles Martínez and his team, although the hosts also had something to celebrate despite the defeat: the match marked the inauguration of Baumberg's new ground, the MEGA Stadion.
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Attention, Werkself fans: the new Away Matchday Collection is now available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt. It includes t-shirts, zip tops and jackets.
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