The hosts are playing their final friendly before they kick off their Bundesliga 2 campaign at SV Darmstadt 98 next Saturday, 2 August. It's been an intensive four weeks for the team who were related from the top flight last term. The squad reported back to work at the end of June and have since played six friendlies, losing none of them. Four of those came during VfL's training camp in Scheffau, Austria, with a 1-1 draw against Czech runners-up Viktoria Plzen, a 3-2 win over SV Waldhof Mannheim, a 5-4 success against Young Boys of Switzerland and a 0-0 draw against Metalist 1925 Kharkiv from Ukraine.
Dieter Hecking's team have undergone a revamp over the summer, with nine new signings so far. Many of them are younger player, including a familiar face in Francis Onyeka, who has been loaned from Bayer 04 to Bochum for the season. Further transfer activity cannot be ruled out, according to the media.
Coach Hecking is feeling positive: "On the whole we've had a decent pre-season. Other than Erhan Masovic and Moritz Kwarteng, we've not had any more injuries, which also helps. Every team needs a spine. Nevertheless, the new boys are providing a lot of impetus and the 'older' players are going along with that. There's a healthy competition for places, which I like." However, the veteran tactician also stressed: "When we play with a back four, I'm still not entirely happy with how we're defending. We've still got work to do there before the Leverkusen game."
The Werkself will be supported by 1,400 fans at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion. Tickets are still available on the gate, priced at €20 for seating and €12 for standing.
Today's friendly also follows Bochum's blue-and-white family day from 12-17:00. In addition to food and drinks, there will also be various fun and games in the car park at the VfL offices: from bouncy castles and an interactive goal wall to a soccer court, face painting and robot goalkeepers, there will be something for the little ones, the not-so-little ones and the grown-ups.
The match will be broadcast live on Werkself-TV. Coverage begins 10 minutes before kick-off, with commentary in German from Niko Hartmann. As ever, there'll be live score updates on bayer04.de and the Bayer 04 app.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have secured the services of another gifted youngster: 17-year-old forward Ndjicoura Bomba will move to Leverkusen from CS Bamako in his native Mali in March, once he reaches legal age.
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After her remarkable EURO journey with the German national team to the semi-finals, Carlotta Wamser has earned a few days' holiday. From Ibiza, the Werkself's new right-back still found time to reflect on the tournament in Switzerland for bayer04.de.
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The opponents, venue and kick-off time for Bayer 04 Women's opening match in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga have already been known for some weeks. On Thursday morning, the Werkself also discovered when exactly they'll be playing on Matchdays 2 to 4 as the German Football Association (DFB) made its first scheduling announcement of the new 2025/26 season - the first in which 14 teams, not 12, will compete in the top flight.
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The German national team, featuring Werkself player Carlotta Wamser, agonisingly missed out on a place in the Women's EURO final. In a tense and dramatic semi-final, the DFB Team lost 1-0 after extra time against world champions Spain. The 21-year-old summer signing from Eintracht Frankfurt played the full 120 minutes, continuing her strong form at the tournament.
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Day nine of the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour ends today, Wednesday. The Werkself will have a short but fun session on the beach after breakfast. Then the Bayer Bayer 04 group will make their way to the airport and fly back to Germany in the afternoon Brazilian time – in the evening back home. Bayer04.de will keep you up-to-date with on-the-spot reports on this final day of the tour. The day nine blog on the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour (timings given in local time).
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