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.
There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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Bayer 04 go into the first of two successive clashes with Borussia Dortmund boosted by their Champions League win at Manchester City. Ahead of the Bundesliga top match on Saturday, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the tight schedule, BVB's strengths and returning squad members.
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Borussia Dortmund are doing very well in terms of points and results in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. BVB have only suffered two defeats to date this term. Now coach Niko Kovac's team are away to the Werkself on Saturday night, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET) in the top match on Bundesliga matchday 12. The two teams meet again three days later in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie in Dortmund. Two very competitive encounters are on the cards. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Bayer 04 Women clcoked up a 3-2 win in a friendly against Twente Enschede on Thursday afternoon in the last international break of 2025. In drizzle, Lilla Turanyi (16’), Kristin Kögel (65’) and Paulina Bartz (69’) scored the goals for the Werkself against the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen leaders, who are still unbeaten in the league.
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