The 2-0 defeat at home to Hertha Berlin is done and dusted. After a two-day break from training, head coach Heiko Herrlich held a double session for his players on Tuesday – the Werkself were greeted by cool temperatures and sunshine in both the morning and afternoon work-outs.
In addition to the skipper Lars Bender, who faces three weeks on the sidelines after suffering a muscle injury in the Cup game against Werder Bremen, Marlon Frey was also absent on Tuesday. The 21-year-old midfielder has has a thyroid problem that requires further investigation.
The afternoon session saw 14 outfield players take part – Dominik Kohr, Jonathan Tah and Sven Bender had individual sessions in the Werkstatt.
Ahead of Saturday's clash with HSV, Herrlich and his players have an open session tomorrow. It is set to start at 10.30 CET, Bayer 04 TV will provide a live stream from the training ground from 11.15 CET (on Facebook). The training sessions on Thursday and Friday will be held behind closed doors.
It took exactly 60 minutes for the Werkself to take the lead through a perfectly finished counter-attack by Patrik Schick in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off at Olympiacos. Referring to the meeting in the league phase and the initially squandered opportunities, coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: "I thought: 'Oh no, déjà-vu.'" But after the opening goal, it took just 144 seconds for the Czech to spark more wild celebrations among those in black and red in the Greek cauldron, when Schick nodded in Alejandro Grimaldo's corner. Much to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans, his teammates and his coach, who had warm words for the striker in the aftermath. The Werkself Review.
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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...
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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.
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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.
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