Around 700 fans attended the Werkself open training session at the start of the second week of the Easter holidays. While the players who started in the 1-1 draw at FC St. Pauli completed a reduced set of drills and were able to dedicate themselves earlier than the other players to meeting the wishes of the fans for autographs and photos, head coach Xabi Alonso continued leading the training session including practising moves in restricted spaces. Afterwards, Robert Andrich, Victor Boniface and Co. signed shirts and posters for the supporters.
Amine Adli fielded questions from the media following the training session. The 24-year-old declared: "Of course, we are not at all happy with the result and the way we played against St. Pauli, that's absolutely clear. Unfortunately there can be weaker phases like that over the course of the season from time to time." And he added: "We know how good we can be and we want to end the season as well as we can. We will work hard on that and give our all!"
The striker also shared his views on his own position: "I continue to feel very happy and I always give everything for the club, my teammates and our fans."
After the interviews, the 15-time Morocco international Adli congratulated his fellow countryman Nassim El Massoudi, from the Bayer 04 U17 squad, on winning the U17 Africa Cup of Nations: "I followed the games with excitement and was really happy about the win. I'm very proud of Nassim and his teammates and they have made a whole country proud! I hope we see each other again soon here at the BayArena and I wish him all the best for his future!" The Morocco youth team beat Mali on penalties in the final a few days ago.
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The remaining training sessions before the home game against FC Augsburg on Saturday, 20 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) will be held behind closed doors. The training session on Sunday at 11:00 CEST is open to fans (subject to change without prior notice).
Former Bundesliga and Germany keeper Manfred Manglitz, who was promoted to the Oberliga West with Bayer 04 in 1962, passed away on Monday at the age of 86.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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Following the summer break of around two months, the Bayer 04 first team squad took to the training pitches at the BayArena for the first time on Tuesday – and the players were in high spirits. Alongside the newly formed coaching team led by head coach Carles Martínez, new signing Afonso Moreira also completed his first session with the squad. In front of several hundred Bayer 04 fans at the open session, numerous Werkself players worked up a good sweat. The Leverkusen players who took part in the World Cup will join pre-season training at a later date.
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In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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