"I'm assuming he will be able to play tomorrow," said head coach Heiko Herrlich referring to his captain. The same applies to Lukas Hradecky who has served a one-match ban for picking up two yellow cards in the Europa League qualifier on 6 August 2015 when he was playing for Bröndby IF. The 28-year-old shot-stopper and Bayer 04 received the surprise news in the past few days. "We received an e-mail from UEFA last week where they confirmed the suspension has now lapsed and that I can play tomorrow," said Hradecky before departure .
After two and a half hours, around 16.00 local time, the Werkself charter plane landed at the airport in Varna. The squad then travelled on the team bus to their hotel in Rasgrad, which is a ten-minute drive away from the Ludogarets Arena.
This evening brings the usual pre-match press conference and final training session ahead of the Europa League opener against Ludogorets Rasgrad (20 September, 21.00 CET).
Roberto Pätzold has been named the new head coach of Bayer 04 Women. The 44-year-old succeeds Robert de Pauw in the role from 1 June 2024 and has signed a contract until 30 June 2026.
Show moreThe first German league title, being in the DFB Pokal final or the record run of games unbeaten: The current season has already been more than exceptional. And we can look forward with excitement to the next few weeks. We want to celebrate this historic season together in style with the fans in Leverkusen on Sunday 26 May.
Show moreThe unbeaten run continues: The Werkself beat Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 (HT: 2-1) on Bundesliga Matchday 32, remaining unbeaten for 48 competitive matches in a row. Granit Xhaka put Bayer 04 in front after 11 minutes before Eintracht’s Hugo Ekitiké levelled the scores (32’). Patrik Schick (44’), Exequiel Palacios (58’, pen), Jeremie Frimpong (77’) and Victor Boniface (89’, pen) then sealed a deserved away victory for the Werkself.
Show moreBayer 04 travel to the Rhine-Main region for the match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Bundesliga Matchday 32. The game kicks off today, Sunday 5 May, at 17:30 CEST. All the key info on the clash at Deutsche Bank Park is in the Matchday News.
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