As in the double matchday on the last weekend of the training camp in Zell am See-Kaprun, with the games against Watford and SD Eibar, Peter Bosz will again divide his squad into two teams with both line-ups playing the full 90 minutes. "We are already further ahead than we were at the training camp and you could see that in today's training session. It was no walk in the park – it was really hard work. But that's what the pre-season has to be about," said the head coach. "On Sunday, we have to make sure we avoid the mistakes we made in the previous friendlies. We want to be better and work on our game."
Anybody wanting to get a double helping of the Werkself on Sunday can purchase tickets for the matchday for three euros at the Bayer 04 shop in Wiesdorf (Wiesdorfer Platz 9, 51373 Leverkusen) or at the Fan House (Breidenbachstraße 46, 51373 Leverkusen). Proceeds from the ticket sales will be donated to the Leverkusen Fan Project.
Our opponents:
Heracles Almelo:
Almelo finished seventh in the Eredivisie last season. The club top scorer was the Spanish striker Adrian Dalmau with 19 goals. The team is managed by Frank Wormuth, who previously worked for the DFB as the Germany U20 coach and also as head of coach training. Bayer 04 coach Peter Bosz was twice in charge at Heracles, from 2004 to 2006 plus 2010 to 2013. Almelo reached the third qualifying round of the Europa League in 2016 but were knocked out after two draws with FC Arouca (1-1 and 0-0).
Vitesse Arnhem:
Peter Bosz also coached Vitesse from 2013 to January 2016 before moving on to Israel to take the helm at Maccabi Tel Aviv. Arnhem were fifth in the Eredivisie last season but missed out on qualification for the Europa League in the play-offs with a 2-0 defeat against Utrecht. The top scorer in the league last term was Bryan Linssen with twelve goals and the Norwegian Martin Ödegaard, on loan from Real Madrid, found the back of the net eight times. In 2017, Vitesse won the Dutch domestic cup competition with a 2-0 victory in the final against AZ Alkmaar. The current Arnhem coach is Leonid Sluzki, who previously was the Russia coach at Euro 2016. Bayer 04 beat Vitesse 4-0 in a friendly during the pre-season in 2013.
Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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A special surprise: during the preview for the 'Fierté Burkinabè' documentary about Edmond Tapsoba, Bayer 04 directors Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes announced Tapsoba's contract extension until 2031 together with the centre-back. He then spoke to Werkself-TV about his time in Leverkusen so far and future ambitions...
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This evening was deeply moving: At a really special setting, Bayer 04 exclusively presented the specially produced documentary ‘Fierté Burkinabè’ ("Burkinabe Pride") about Edmond Tapsoba on Tuesday. For the preview at the BayArena, the parents of the Werkself player and other close companions travelled all the way from his African homeland Burkina Faso. The 45-minute film shows Tapsoba's extraordinary career from his beginnings in Ouagadougou to Leverkusen as well as the work of his foundation "Fondation Edmond Tapsoba", with representatives from Burkina Faso also present. Fans can watch the documentary free of charge on Werkself TV and YouTube from Wednesday night at 20:00 CEST.
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Bayer 04 have signed left-back Carolin Simon from champions Bayern Munich for the coming season. The 33-year-old former Germany international, who played for Leverkusen from 2013 to 2016, has signed a contract to 30 June 2028.
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Bayer 04 Women have strengthened for the coming season with the signing of Lobke Loone. The 23-year-old Dutch striker joins from Utrecht on a contract until 30 June 2028.
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