While one group of players, who played more minutes of the match on Wednesday evening, completed a recovery session inside, the other 13-man group begin with a quick strength segment outside. That was followed by various passing drills in small groups as well as two-v-one game on a small pitch. Interestingly, Forest's U21 team were working up a sweat on the adjacent pitch at the same time.
It was particularly pleasing to see new signing Facundo Medina involved in the hour-long session. The Argentinian initially trained with the group, then worked individually with the fitness coaches on the other side of the field.
Also on the pitch were World Cup returnees Jarell Quansah and Exequiel Palacios. The intensity was really turned up for the pair at the end of the session as the World Cup medal winners completed a number of sprints before heading for a well-earned shower. Quansah was clearly pleased with the work: "It's nice to be back. I'm recovered, even though my break wasn't long. I feel fresh and in good form."
Nathan Tella (muscular problem) and Axel Tape (illness) returned to action, too, after their recent ailments. The group was completed by U19 players Jonah Berghoff, Ben Hawighorst and Kenan Doganay. The concentration and tension levels were clear to see in all the players, with the focus already on the seventh and final friendly of the 2026/27 pre-season this Saturday, 15 August, at Premier League club Newcastle United.
Head coach Carles Martínez will lead his team through one more training session in Nottingham on Friday before they travel north-east to Newcastle.
Kick-off in the final friendly on Saturday is at 16:00 CEST (15:00 local time) at St. James' Park. Bayer 04 is broadcasting a free live stream of the game. Registered users can watch it for free on bayer04.de, in the Bayer 04 app and on Werkself.tv.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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Several Werkself players are set to represent their national teams during the final international break of 2026. Here’s an overview of who has been called up and the matches they will face in November. This article will be updated regularly.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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