Jonathan Tah also returned on Monday. The 21-year-old, who missed the U21 European Championships due to a groin injury, ended his holidays on Monday. Jonathan started with medical tests before moving on to exercises in the gym. It remains to be seen when the central defender will rejoin his team-mates. Admir Mehmedi and Lars Bender also trained on their own on Monday on their way back from muscle problems.
Sven Bender faces the press
It was the second session with the squad for Lars' twin brother Sven. The new signing from Borussia Dortmund was again on the pitch as he was on Saturday. Before that he faced the press. The 28-year-old again commented on his move: "It was important to me to get back on the pitch. I saw the opportunities being better at Bayer 04 than at BVB." Since his first discussions with the club management, he felt "he was wanted here." He went on to explain: "With my experience and the way I play I can definitely help the club. I want to lead the team. And I'm confident I can do that."
He was also happy to be reunited with his brother who he used to play alongside at TSV 1860 Munich in 2009: "Of course, I'm looking forward to playing with him again. I can't say how that will turn out. We've played too many years at different clubs to predict that."
Friendly in Bonn on Wednesday
The defender, born in Rosenheim, is looking to help the Werkself get back to winning ways. His first impressions of head coach Heiko Herrlich and the team were very positive. "We’ll come together as a team in the pre-season," said our new number five full of conviction. It is possible that Sven might make his debut in a Bayer 04 shirt on Wednesday. The Werkself play the third pre-season friendly away to Regional League side Bonner SC (18.30 CET, Sportpark Nord).
The penultimate Bundesliga matchday of the calendar year marks the end of an eventful first half of the season for the Bayer 04 Women. After seven wins, one draw and four defeats from the first twelve games of the season, coach Roberto Pätzold's team can go above Werder Bremen in the table with a win on Friday, 12 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET).
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The third showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 kicks off for the Leverkusen eSports team this Thursday, 11 December (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Red will once again take on six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round, which will take place at this third showdown on 19 December in Cologne. Showdown One winners Bayer 04 will face FC St. Pauli, who won the second showdown last month, among others. The lowdown on first three opponents in this online preliminary round.
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The exact dates for the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal have been finalised. Accordingly, Bayer 04's home tie against Bundesliga rivals FC St. Pauli will be played on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, with the kick-off at 20:45 CET. This was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) today (Thursday).
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After a strong first half, the Werkself conceded twice against Newcastle United in the UEFA Champions League but fought back and " deservedly earned the draw at the end", as captain Robert Andrich aptly put it. Despite opportunities for further Bayer 04 goals, the positive feeling about the irrepressible commitment the final minutes predominated. The Werkself review.
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Alejandro Grimaldo, of course! With his late equaliser (88') in the Champions League clash against Newcastle United, the Spaniard rescued a point for the Werkself, who took the lead through an own goal by Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes (13') but went with two goals for the visitors scored by Anthony Gordon (51') and Lewis Miley (74'). It was the third draw for Bayer 04 in the current 2025/26 campaign on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase.
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