Hannes Wolf welcomed 21 players to his first session in Bayer 04 kit. In addition to Niklas Lomb, the U19 goalkeepers Marcel Johnen and Jakob Brambach donned their gloves as well. Lukas Hradecky trained separately following his Achilles injury and Lennart Grill is set to play for Germany on Wednesday night against Hungary in the U21 European Championship (kick-off: 21.00 CET/ProSieben).
Also on board under clear blue skies were Emrehan Gedikli, Cem Türkmen and Samed Onur plus the U19 players Yannick Schlösser and Achunike-Elijah Ekene. Recently injured players Paulinho and Sven Bender completed large parts of the session. After the warm-up routine, the Werkself players completed passing drills under the guidance of assistant coach and Bayer 04 stalwart Peter Hermann. The 69-year-old directed operations, issued instructions and gave advice – as he has always done in his long career.
Then it became more intensive: In a restricted space, outnumbered situations were created where goalscoring opportunities had to be battled for. Under the eyes of Fernando Carro, chairman of the board, and sporting director Simon Rolfes, Wolf interrupted proceedings a number of times to give players instructions. "We have so much pace in the team, we have to use it," was just one of the many messages from the 39-year-old.
While Charles Aránguiz and Co worked with the fitness coaches at the end of the session, Wolf's assistant Hermann gathered together the youngest players. He led passing and shooting practice with the five U19 outfield players plus goalkeepers Johnen and Brambach. At exactly 12.30 CET, Wolf, Hermann, Miguel Moreira and Co. left the training ground together after the first session was completed.
Wolf will hold his next session on Thursday with his first match as Werkself head coach coming up on Easter Saturday, 3 April (kick-off: 15.30 CEST) when bottom of the table Schalke 04 visit the BayArena. In the clash with the Royal Blues there should be a similar approach as in the first training session led by new coach Wolf.
A special stage for women's football: When the Bayer 04 Women's team face Werder Bremen on Saturday, 12 October (kick-off: 14.00 CEST), the team led by coach Roberto Pätzold will play in front of an unusually large crowd. 19,000 tickets have already been sold for the big match at the Weserstadion.
Show moreThe second international break of the 2024/25 season is round the corner. After the Bundesliga clash against Holstein Kiel, 5 October (kick-off 15:30 CEST), several Bayer 04 players will be playing in the next set of UEFA Nations League fixtures, among others. An overview.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without midfielder Synne Skinnes Hansen in the coming weeks. The Norwegian suffered a torn ligament in her right thigh in the match against Carl Zeiss Jena (1-0).
Show moreThe video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA) together with the German Football League (DFL) have announced the nominations for the vote for Bundesliga Player of the Month in September – that includes Werkself player Florian Wirtz. Black and Red fans can vote now.
Show more