It did not look good at first sight. Karim Bellarabi overstretched his right knee during a session on Saturday (4 August) in Zell am See. He remained on the ground for several minutes and had to receive treatment. Karim wanted to train with the team in the afternoon but the medical section decided to take him out of training for a closer examination.
He underwent an MRI scan. The diagnosis: a slight strain to the anterior cruciate ligament. Following discussions with the doctors, head coach Heiko Herrlich decided to rest Karim for two weeks.
Charles Aranguiz (knee) will also have to wait for a couple of days. The Chilean midfielder has worked well on his own but he will not be able to join in with team training this week.
The same applies to Leon Bailey, who picked up a painful shoulder injury in the friendly against Basaksehir Istanbul. Heiko Herrlich believes the Jamaican will rejoin his team-mates in training next Tuesday. He will not be available for the DFB Cup game at Pforzheim (18 August).
Isaac Kiese Thelin could feature in the friendly against Valencia (11 August). The Swede trained for the first time with his new team-mates on Wednesday and he made a good impression. "He scored five goals with headers," reported Heiko Herrlich. "Of course, he needs time to settle in but we want to take him to Valencia."
“Diaby! Diaby! Diaby!” was the cry around the BayArena as the Werkself danced in front of the north stand following their 4-0 win over Union Berlin. Captain Edmond Tapsoba gave his new (and old) teammate a friendly shove forward to take in the acclaim from the fans. The returning Frenchman was typically reserved in thanking the supporters but was clearly emotional about what was happening.
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The Bundesliga is back at the BayArena this Saturday as Bayer 04 play their first home game of the 2026/27 campaign against Union Berlin (15:30 CEST). Moussa Diaby could make his second debut for the Werkself following his return to Leverkusen – and it would be an ideal fixture for the Frenchman. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the encounter in our matchday news.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-1 at TSG Hoffenheim on the 3rd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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Paulina Tomasiak’s maiden Bundesliga goal helped Bayer 04 Women to their second away victory of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Bundesliga as Roberto Pätzold’s side won 2-1 at Hoffenheim on Matchday 3. Loreen Bender had scored inside two minutes on Friday evening before the hosts levelled, but Tomasiak came off the bench to secure all three points at the Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion.
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