After the squad trained on Monday afternoon, performance tests were on the agenda on Tuesday. It could be that a number of players were thinking of Thursday's friendly against MSV Duisburg. The game against the second division side is of increased relevance to Werkself players who have not played much recently according to head coach Heiko Herrlich.
For example that applies to Tin Jedvaj: The 21-year-old suffered a hairline shin fracture in training at the beginning of July. Even though the defender has been back in full training for several days he is still not up to speed with his team-mates due to missing the pre-season. "Tin is on the right track," said Herrlich who indicated the defender is likely to start against the Zebras.
Praise for Kiessling
Stefan Kießling will also be in the starting eleven on Thursday. In addition, "he should decide for himself how long he's on the pitch," declared Herrlich. "Stefan has trained well. Above all, his way of motivating and involving younger players impresses me." Herrlich made it clear that the situation for the club legend is not easy and that makes his exemplary performances in training even more impressive.
In addition to Jedvaj and Kießling, players like Vladlen Yurchenko, André Ramalho and Marlon Frey should also get time on the pitch. That gives them the opportunity to stake a claim for further appearances. In this respect, Heiko Herrlich places great value on a "winning mentality." He identified that in the last friendly against Fortuna Köln (4-0) but it was absent for most of the 2-1 defeat against VFL Bochum at the end of August as in other pre-season games. "I want to win every game. And the players should see it the same way," explained the Bayer 04 head coach.
Setback for Henrichs
Jonathan Tah (back problems) and Benjamin Henrichs will not be playing on Thursday. There were hopes at the weekend that the full-back would recover from his illness over the course of the week and then join the Germany U21 squad but the situation has now taken a turn for the worse. The 20-year-old is still struggling with a nasal infection and the doctors have banned him from any sporting activity until the end of the week. Heiko Herrlich is not expecting either of the players to return before the middle of next week.
It has been a long time since feeling what it’s like to come away empty-handed. The last – and so far only – defeat of the season, in Elversberg, was two months ago. Since then, Bayer 04 have followed that up with seven wins and a draw. Now it has happened again away to TSG Hoffenheim. As the match progressed, the Werkself grew in confidence and “could even have scored the opening goal”, as Robert Andrich said after the game. In the end, it was the side from Sinsheim who sealed a 3–0 victory after “hectic closing stages” (kicker). The Werkself review.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-2 loss at 1. FC Nürnberg on Matchday 8 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 0-3 loss at TSG Hoffenheim on Matchday 7 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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After nine points from their first three away matches of the 2026/27 season, the Bayer 04 Women suffered their first away defeat on Sunday afternoon. The 2-0 defeat away to FC Nürnberg, who were winless before today, represented a setback for coach Roberto Pätzold’s team in the race for the top spots in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. Fany Pronietz scored both goals (62’, 85’) for the home side.
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