The Black and Reds started the official run-in to the 2024/25 season on Sunday 14 July with performance checks. At the start of the week, Xabi Alonso led the first training session in warm weather with half of his squad – including new signings Aleix Garcia, Jeanuël Belocian and Andrea Natali.
Players not available were the European champion Alejandro Grimaldo and Copa América winner Exequiel Palacios plus the others involved in the European Championship and Copa América finals. These Werkself players are currently enjoying a well-deserved holiday after involvement in those tournaments. Alonso extended the training group by including several youth players including Francis Onyeka, Ken Izekor, Kerim Alajbegovic.
In a 90-minute session, Alonso demanded high intensity and maximum concentration. A warm-up routine and stretching were followed by reaction drills. Then came a pass and moving game – first in restricted space then on half the pitch. Alonso ended the first training session with a practice match.
Sporting managing director Simon Rolfes shared his views at the first training session ahead of the 2024/25 campaign: "I'm really looking forward to getting going again. Last season was wonderful without a doubt. But a new season always brings a new attraction. We will have new challenges and new opportunities. We have a good team and obviously want to be part of the top group in the Bundesliga.
On European champion Grimaldo and Copa América winner Palacios, Rolfes said: "I'm really happy with the wins for Alejandro and Exequiel. I've sent a short message to both of them after they won their individual titles. I'm very happy that we now have a European champion, a Copa América and World Cup winner at Bayer 04 and in the also an AFCON winner in Odi (Odilon Kossounou, ed.). That's a great development."
A highlight for the Bayer 04 fans came after the rigorous first training session: Selfies and group photos with the players as well as autographs on shirts, shorts and more. A group of children spontaneously sang a birthday greeting to Jonas Hofmann who was 32 on Sunday.
Hofmann also shared his views on the start of the pre-season after the training session: "I've enjoyed the summer and was really able to switch off. On holiday a lot of people congratulated me for the success of last season. Moments like that made me realise what we have actually achieved. We now have a big challenge ahead of us and are able to see that it was a unique and exceptional season. It will be difficult to top that." Hofmann added with confidence: "The bar is set high. We want to make a good start to the season. We'll only have all the players together later on and in that short time we want to work on producing what made us so strong last season. You could see straightaway in the first training session that we have a good mindset."
This week's other training sessions are – with the exception of Saturday – also open to fans.
Please note: The team have another event straight after tomorrow's open training session. For this reason, the players will not be available for selfies and autographs after training tomorrow. We ask you to bear that in mind. From Wednesday, the team will again be happy to fulfil requests for photos and autographs as usual after training.
The first friendly of the pre-season is on Friday 26 July against Rot-Weiss Essen. Tickets went on open sale today at noon.
The first match at the BayArena is against Real Betis at the season launch on 10 August with the kick off at 15.30 CEST. Further information is available HERE.
An overview of the pre-season agenda is HERE.
High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen are further expanding their partner network: The feed manufacturer PerNaturam is an official sponsor of the Bayer 04 Womens team. The partnership opens up a wide range of opportunities for the company to position its brand in the Bundesliga environment.
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Do you dream of wearing the Bayer cross on your chest? To play in black and red like your role models Loreen Bender, Cornelia Kramer, Kristin Kögel and co. from the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga? Then take your chance now! Our female youth teams are once again on the lookout for new talent. That's why Bayer 04 are organising a talent day on 12 April 2026 for the first time this year with trials for female juniors.
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