"We said from the start we wanted to finish top of the group. Nothing's changed in that respect," said Heiko Herrlich after the Tuesday morning training session as he clearly set out the target for Thursday. Nevertheless, the Werkself head coach will use the confirmed progress to the Round of 32 to give some of the players with less match time under their belts the opportunity to play against Ludogorets and "show what they can do and stake a claim for a place in the team."
The two Bender brothers missed full training in the first session of the week on Monday and instead completed individual sessions in the gym at the BayArena and Aleksandar Dragovic plus Jakub Bednarczyk trained on their own on a neighbouring pitch. Long-term injury Pohjanpalo (rehab training) and Tin Jedvaj (muscular problems) missed the Tuesday training session. A decision on the availability of the Croat for Thursday will be made after tomorrow's final pre-match training session.
The next and, at the same time, final open training session of the week will be held on Friday at 11.00 CET.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned U19 midfielder Jeremiah Mensah to Dutch second-tier side Roda JC Kerkrade for one year. The 18-year-old Germany youth international has a long-term contract at the club to 2031.
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Bayer 04 kick off the final phase of their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with a friendly against Premier League club Nottingham Forest. Head coach Carles Martínez’s team will take to the pitch at the City Ground today, Wednesday 12 August (kick-off: 8.45 pm/7.45 pm local time). Werkself-TV will broadcast the match live and in full exclusively for Bayer 04 members via livestream from 8.35 pm...
Villa Fiorito, River Plate, Ligue 1, the World Cup final and now Bayer 04: Facundo Medina’s life story so far has been shaped by special places, clubs, matches and names. One of them is Diego Maradona, who, like Medina, hailed from the south of Buenos Aires. Another is Exequiel Palacios, his former team-mate at River Plate, who was raving about Bayer 04 to him as recently as the World Cup in North America. Medina has now taken the plunge into the Bundesliga and, as an Argentine World Cup runner-up, has joined Bayer 04 from Olympique de Marseille this week. It is set to be the next successful chapter in his career. Leverkusen’s new number 2 brings with him a South American mentality and passion, a wealth of experience from many years in Ligue 1, and a fascinating story to the Rhineland – and to a club where the 1.84-metre-tall left-footed player will be reunited with Palacios and several other familiar faces.
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Shortly after signing his contract with Bayer 04, new signing Facundo Medina spoke to Werkself.tv about his first impressions of the club, his expectations and his conversations with his Argentine compatriot Exequiel Palacios. The defender also reveals what the fans can look forward to. Welcome to Leverkusen, Facu!
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Welcome back! On Tuesday morning, 11 August, Jarell Quansah and Exequiel Palacios – the last of the Werkself’s World Cup participants – returned to training. The two medallists and their team-mates are set to play their final two pre-season friendlies in England this week before the start of competitive fixtures.
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