“This solution is ideal for us in terms of logistics and organisation,” said sporting director Simon Rolfes. “We can continue to use the excellent infrastructure at the BayArena, avoid shuttle buses and can meet all of the hygiene and organisational requirements.”
The players will eat their meals in the hospitality section in the West Stand at the BayArena. The area normally used by several hundred spectators on matchdays will provide ample space for the players, coaches and staff to have breakfast, lunch and evening meals.
Every day will start with a rapid coronavirus test at the hotel; if the tests are negative then the members of the training camp can enter the stadium in the West Stand. The players can stay in the spacious areas available before and after training sessions and thereby reduce time spent in the hotel to a minimum.
Four players will not take part in the quarantine training camp. Lucas Alario has already returned to Argentina to start rehab following his recent injury. Long-term absentees Santiago Arias, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Daley Sinkgraven will continue to follow their individual training programmes away from the quarantine group in the ‘Werkstatt’ facility.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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