19 Werkself pros were available to Heiko Herrlich in the first session on Friday morning but the boss was till without absentees Lukas Hradecky, Charles Aránguiz, Panos Retsos, Joel Pohjanpalo, Dominik Kohr, and the two World Cup participants Julian Brandt and Tin Jedvaj. The head coach brought in three U19 players to boost the numbers: Ayman Azhil, Jan Boller and Adrian Stanilewicz had the chance to train with the first team.
Over-punctual - ten minutes ahead of the set time - the first players went onto the training ground, including birthday boy Wendell, who was serenaded by his team-mates on his 25th birthday. The Brazilian was accompanied by fellow countryman new signing Paulinho, who joined the first team squad for the first time on the training ground. After the warm-up routine, he went onto a neighbouring pitch to carry on working on his own. "We can't forget that Paulinho broke his arm in March and hasn't touched a ball in training since then. We don't want to take any risks and we''ll introduce him step by step," said Heiko Herrlich after the session. The 18-year-old will not feature in tomorrow's friendly at Siegen: "He is due to train with the team in a week's time and only then can we thinking about playing him."
While Leon Bailey, Karim Bellarabi and Co. focused on working with the ball, passing drills and moves, their team-mate Dominik Kohr was not available but Herrlich is expecting him to return. Last Tuesday, the 24-year-old slightly twisted his knee. "His knee was sore so we rested him yesterday and the day before. Dominik had treatment again today and it's all looking good," said Herrlich. "We're very optimistic he will be able to play for a half against Siegen."
The Werkself coach also offered a prognosis on Charles Aránguiz (rehab after knee problems): "We've increased the therapy to eradicate the pain. That means he cannot be subjected to too much work at the moment. He should be able to join in at the training camp next week."
The Werkself need a win in their penultimate match of the season at RB Leipzig on Monday evening (18:00 CEST) to keep their hopes of third place alive until the final day. After Eintracht Frankfurt lost on Saturday, Roberto Pätzold's side can close the gap on their rivals to two points and leave it all to play for next Sunday.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-3 loss at VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 33 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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Down to fifth from fourth place despite taking an early lead: in the head-to-head for a Champions League spot, Bayer 04 were 1-0 up at VfB Stuttgart with just a minute played thanks to an Aleix Garcia strike, but ultimately lost 3-1 (2-1) to the more determined hosts. It meant the Swabians leapfrogged the Werkself in the Bundesliga table on the penultimate matchday.
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Today sees Bayer 04 go head-to-head with their next direct rivals in the race for Champions League qualification (kick-off 15:30 CEST). Opponents Stuttgart are currently fifth in the table, level on points with the Werkself but one place below them due to a three-goal inferior goal difference. The Black and Reds' record at Bad Cannstatt tells a clearer story: they've not lost at VfB for over 16 years. One important factor in securing what would be three crucial points away from home is Leverkusen's strength on the counter-attack. Whilst Stuttgart are also extremely dangerous going forward, they will be without their captain. Today’s matchday news.
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