With the Werkself being the clear favourites, Kevin Volland sounded a warning against underestimating the opposition: “We made it difficult for ourselves last season at Karlsruher SC. And the year before against Lotte, we saw what can happen if you’re not 100 per cent up for it. So we know exactly what to expect.”
At least there was some good news on the personnel front on Thursday: In the morning session, both Lars and Sven Bender plus Lucas Alario and Paulinho were on the training ground again after spending yesterday working in the facilities at the BayArena due to slight knocks or regulating their workload. And Lukas Hradecky also joined his team-mates on the way from the dressing room to the training ground for the first time since the operation on his jaw. After a warm-up session together, the Finn first took the role as a spectator before completing an individual session wearing a protective mask. “It will take some time before I’m fully back up to speed and after the examinations in the week we’ll see if we can up the work rate,” said Hradecky after the final open training session the week, which saw Heiko Herrlich once again focus on practising moves and finishing. The boss is still without the services of Joel Pohjanpalo (ankle), Panos Retsos (thigh), Leon Bailey (cold) and Charles Aránguiz (knee), who is now working with fitness coach Daniel Jouvin on the training ground.
It is clear Hradecky is at home in the Cup as he demonstrated this year with his former club Eintracht Frankfurt. The Cup winner had some advice for his new team-mates: “I told them you can’t afford to underestimate any team. Pforzheim will do all they can to beat us. But the lads are well aware of the task and I’m sure will go through to the second round.” That is also Volland’s target. “We’re really looking forward to the game – also because we’re finally getting going again after a hard pre-season. We are all very focused after the Valencia game and we know what’s coming – Pforzheim won’t make it easy for us. But if we do our homework on the pitch then we’ll win the game,” said the 26-year-old.
The Werkself will train behind closed doors tomorrow before the Bayer 04 squad heads south in the early afternoon.
Bayer 04 are through to the second round of the DFB Pokal after a 4-0 win at Sonnenhof Großaspach on Friday night. The game was paused after only 18 minutes due to a storm over the ground. After a lengthy delay, play resumed and Patrik Schick opened the scoring. Arthur, Christian Kofane and Alejandro Grimaldo made things more comfortable in the second half, as the fourth-tier side had two players sent off.
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Show moreThe first round of the DFB Pokal takes Bayer 04 to Sonnenhof Großaspach on Friday. The amateur club have just gained promotion to the fourth-tier Regionalliga Südwest and kicked off their campaign with two impressive wins. Here’s all you need to know as Erik ten Hag makes his competitive bow as Werkself boss at the WIRmachenDRUCK Arena (kick-off: 6pm CEST).
Show moreAfter two months preparing for the new season, the Werkself play the first game of the 2025/26 campaign on Friday, 15 August (kick-off: 18:00 CEST) away to SG Sonnenhof Großaspach in the first round of the DFB Pokal. Ahead of the tie against the team newly promoted to the Regional League South West, head coach Erik ten Hag talked about his approach to the knockout game and his soft spot for cup competitions.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen has a new Premium Partner in its ranks in Düsseldorf company LumenHaus GmbH. The leading provider of networked home energy solutions has initially agreed a one-year partnership with the Bundesliga runners-up to the end of the 2025/26 season.
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