The Werkself training ground is gradually filling up. For the Wednesday training session, head coach Peter Bosz had 16 outfield players available. That did not include international players in action on Tuesday night. While Paulinho completed a couple of circuits on the training ground in the afternoon, Moussa Diaby, Lukas Hradecky and Joel Pohjanpalo had a chance to recover.
Lars Bender was back on the pitch with his team-mates and he is looking for the team to contribute to Kai Havertz not being confronted with exaggerated expectations. "We have to take the pressure off him a bit. He should feel that he is still a young and talented player. He can have games that aren't so great and moments where he doesn't shine," said the team captain an interview with Sky. Last season, Havertz played in all 34 Bundesliga games scoring 17 goals along the way. Recently he has found success with Germany with the goal to make it 2-0 against Argentina plus an assist in the game against Estonia..
Werkself pro Kevin Volland took the opportunity of a free weekend during the international break to head back home to Thalhofen bei Marktoberdorf in eastern Allgäu. There he went with family and friends to watch the district league derby between his hometown club FC Thalhofen and TV Erkheim. Even though the game ended in a 2-1 defeat, the spectators showed their appreciation when the stadium announcer informed them of the presence of the Bundesliga pro. Volland played for FC Thalhofen for ten years before moving on to Memmingen, Thannhausen, 1860 Munich and TSG Hoffenheim before joining Bayer 04.
Kai Havertz is the only German player nominated for the Golden Boy Award. The Italian sports journal 'Tuttosport' is making awards for the 17th time for the best U21 players in Europe. The Werkself number 29 has the chance on 16 December to become the second German pro after Mario Götze (2011) to pick up this prestigious award for young talented players. There is some famous competition. Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich) and Dejan Joveljic (Eintracht Frankfurt) from the Bundesliga join players from other top European leagues including Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid), Phil Foden (Manchester City) and title holder Mathijs de Ligt (Juventus) on a 20-man shortlist.
Every holiday has a Bayer 04 Soccer School. And once again during this autumn holiday week there are lots of kids in action in and around the BayArena. One high point of the week is the press conference with one of the Werkself protagonists. This week, the head of the first team section was the visitor: Sporting director Simon Rolfes fielded questions from 80 children. There he admitted he is no friend of the computer game FIFA. "I tried it out when I was playing. My team-mate back then Patrick Helmes introduced me to it and then after our game gave me a tip: 'Simon, leave it alone!' I've stuck to that." Instead, Rolfes preferred to read books and periodicals and since December 2018 he has been the sporting director at Bayer 04.
Former Bayer 04 pro Roberto Hilbert celebrates his 35th birthday today. Hilbert played for the Werkself from 2013 to 2017. In 78 appearances, the right back scored one goal and provided seven assists. He also gained eight caps for Germany. Hilbert finished his professional career at SpVgg Greuther Fürth and he has remained at the club since then. He plays for the reserve team and also works for the club as a youth coach.
Bayer 04 are away to Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 5 of the league phase of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. The game kicks off on Thursday 26 November at 18:45 CET at the Maksimir Stadium. All the information on ticket sales.
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It wasn’t just on the pitch that there was cause for celebration around the Werkself’s 2–1 home win against SC Freiburg. Plenty of happy faces could be seen near the dugouts at half-time too. Once again, CEO Fernando Carro, alongside former striker and club ambassador Stefan Kießling, paid tribute to eight supporters’ clubs celebrating up to their 30th anniversary on behalf of Bayer 04.
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It was a match that will live long in the memory of everyone involved: The Bayer 04 U19s celebrated their seventh win in seven matches in the DFB Youth League preliminary round – and yet it was a very special victory indeed: in the 4–3 (1–1) win at VfL Bochum 1848, no fewer than five goals came in the final quarter of an hour. As the 90th minute approached, coach Patrick Greveraars’s side found themselves behind, but then fought back in true ‘Laterkusen’ style.
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Under Carles Martínez, the Werkself have so far proved unbeatable at the BayArena. The Spaniard has led his team to victory in all three of their most recent home matches – and, it's worth noting, without conceding a single goal. On Sunday, 18 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST / live on DAZN and Werkself Radio), current league leaders SC Freiburg will make the trip to Leverkusen, but will be without their top scorer. What's more, the Werkself have won all three of their previous home matches against the Black Forest club. With a goal, Patrik Schick could not only secure a fourth consecutive victory but also set a memorable record. Meanwhile, on what will be the ‘Health Day' at the BayArena, much of the focus will be on physical wellbeing. Today's matchday news.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 1-1 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 7 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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