“The win in Munich was the icing on the cake! We played with loads of passion and desire. We’ve always had mentality and commitment and now we’ve got that winning feeling again on top of that. I hope that continues to Christmas and we can stay at the top end of the table,” said Lukas Hradecky looking back at the weekend. “You don’t usually plan to get points against Bayern. A win against Schalke could see us trump the victory at the weekend – I love that word,” said the Finn.
Preparations for the top match against FC Schalke 04 (Saturday, 18.30 CET, live on Werks11 Radio and live text commentary at bayer04.de) are in full swing. In the final open session ahead of the game, all the Bayer 04 players took part in training with the exception of Mitchell Weiser and Joel Pohjanpalo. After the warm-up, Kevin Volland trained on his own at the BayArena; the Bender twins, Wendell, Charles Aránguiz and Jonathan Tah, suspended for two games, trained on pitch 2. The rest of the squad played five-a-side in fast-paced games with plenty of pressing.
By Saturday it was clear to everybody: Lukas Hradecky wears contact lenses. The 30-year-old lost a contact lens in the first half of the away win in Munich as he revealed after the game. “It’s the first time it’s ever happened to me in my career,” he didn’t panic and stayed cool in spite of the opposition attacks: “The lens got caught up and I couldn’t see anything for 30 seconds – even long balls. Then I ran to the doc and he was able to get the lens back in place. But it was inside out – I was able to see again but it was uncomfortable. I played the rest of the first half like that.” Hradecky can laugh about it now, “but my pulse was racing in that situation.”
Kai Havertz is the sixth-best young player in the world! That was revealed at the award of the Kopa Trophy presented at yesterday’s FIFA Player of the Year awards. At the gala event in Paris, the Dutchman Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus) won the young player award and there was the Ballon d’Or for the best male player and female player plus the award for the best goalkeeper. The much sought-after Ballon d’Or was again won by Lionel Messi with the former Werkself player Heung-min Son – currently at Tottenham Hotspur – also nominated. The South Korean was in 22nd place.
Happy Birthday, Heiko Herrlich! The former Bayer 04 player and coach celebrates his 48th birthday. Dirk Heinen was also born on 3 December, albeit a year earlier. The former Werkself keeper is 49. Bayer 04 wishes both of them a happy birthday!
Bundesliga rivals FC Augsburg have appointed former Bayer 04 player Jan-Ingwer Callsen-Bracker to their supervisory board. The 35-year-old, who made 58 apperances for the Bayer 04 first team and 68 for the reserves between 2002 and 2008, ended his playing career at FC Augsburg in the summer of 2019. Since than, Callsen-Bracker worked at the DFB Academy in the newly created area of ‘neuro athletics’ in the innovation and development section. The 35-year-old has a non-executive position on the control committee at FCA.
Calling all Bayer 04 fans: The Werkself will play Pisa SC, newly promoted to Serie A, at the BayArena as part of the season opener. The clash with the club from Tuscany is on Tuesday, 5 August with the kick-off at 18:00 CET. Entrance to the stadium with a wide range of entertainment provided is possible from 15:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales for the season opener.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have signed the 17-year-old forward Dustin Buck. The Germany youth international joins from the youth set-up at FC Augsburg. The technically gifted and fast attacker will strengthen the Werkself U19 squad.
Show moreSeveral Bayer 04 Legends, Bayer executives, club officials, current defender Arthur and, of course, dozens of enthusiastic children turned out on Saturday on the south side of Sao Paulo for the official opening of the Bayer 04 Football Academy, located at Club Bayer on the campus of Bayer Brazil.
Show moreA great night for 'Calle': Bayer 04 new signing Carlotta Wamser helped Germany to an opening win in the Women's Euro in Switzerland with an impressive performance. After coming on as a substitute in the 2-0 victory over Poland in Group C, the winger provided an assist and helped set up the second goal. The 21-year-old earned great praise from her coach and teammates in her first tournament match.
Show more