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.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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Bayer 04’s eight opponents in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League have been confirmed. At the draw on Friday 28 August held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Werkself were drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots. There are a total of four home and four away matches. Read on for details of opponents and fixture dates.
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In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-3 loss at SV 07 Elversberg on Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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