Before the Swiss coach fielded questions on the training ground, he fulfilled another function on the pitch. Seoane had a whistle round his neck as the took the role of referee. He intervened – albeit rarely – in the event of unfair challenges and clear offsides.
The 43-year-old coach again welcomed the U19 players Sadik Fofana and Ayman Aourir plus the brothers Noah and Leon Pesch at the start of the week.
Missing players included Edmond Tapsoba and Odilon Kossounou, who are at the Africa Cup of Nations, plus the injured Julian Baumgartlinger and Charles Aránguiz. Timothy Fosu-Mensah was also absent but the Dutchman could return to training during the week according to Seoane. A return to full training is also possible for Amine Adli with the Frenchman completing an individual session on the pitch on Monday.
There was good news about Piero Hincapie: The 19-year-old defender had been left stranded in his home country of Ecuador following a positive Covid-19 test but he has now tested negative and thereby fulfilled the requirements for the return journey to Germany. "We’re happy that Piero can now return and that we have one more player available," said Seoane. "I hope he will be able to have two or three days work with the ball before Saturday's game."
At the moment, it appears likely that the Ecuador international will be in the squad for the Werkself opening match in 2021 against Union Berlin. The game between the teams in fourth and seventh place at the BayArena kicks off at 15.30 CET on Saturday, 8 January.
Edmond Tapsoba and Odilon Kossounou are in the last few days before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations. While Kossounou has been exclusively involved in training sessions with the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso with defender Tapsoba played a friendly against Gabon on Sunday. The warm-up match against the team including Arsenal striker Pierre Emerik Aubameyang, with the Leverkusen player in the Burkina Faso starting line-up, ended with a 3-0 victory.
Tapsoba and Co. are in the opening match of the African tournament against Cameroon on 9 January; the Ivory Coast with Kossounou start three days later against Equatorial Guinea.
Be part of the family, everyone is welcome in Germany's top flight: The German Football League (DFL) are using this motto to get fans in the mood for the start of the second half of the Bundesliga season. Matchday 18 begins on Friday, 7 January with the game between Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Click HERE for the Tweet.
After the opening match in January against Union Berlin, the Werkself play Borussia Mönchengladbach (15 January) and FC Augsburg (22 January) before the weekend off at the end of the month.
Having worked as Bayern Munich's video analyst under coach Pep Guardiola, Lars Kornetka joined the Werkself in the summer of 2014 as analyst assistant coach. He spent four years under the Bayer Cross working in that role with the longest time under head coach Roger Schmidt (125 games). After that he moved on to RB Leipzig and PSV Eindhoven and a few months ago joined Lokomotiv Moscow. Kornetka is now working there as the sporting and communications director. Bayer 04 wish the former Leverkusen man many happy returns on his 44th birthday in the Russian capital.
Kicking off the new season with a fresh look: Bayer 04, in collaboration with sportswear manufacturer New Balance, has unveiled the official kit for Leverkusen’s e-Sports players for the coming season. The jersey is now available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
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Paulo Sergio and Bayer 04 have enjoyed close ties since the Werkself training camp in his native Brazil last summer. The club legend is in charge of the Bayer 04 Soccer Academy, which opened in the summer of 2025, and he has also been at this year’s training camp in the Weimarer Land. As well as interacting with the many fans who travelled to the camp, the 1994 World Cup winner used the time to plan the next steps for the Academy together with club officials. In an interview with bayer04.de, Sergio spoke about the project’s future development, the upcoming visit by young Academy players to Leverkusen, and plans for the coming months in Germany and Brazil.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day five (Thursday 6 August) is as follows: The squad have the final open session of the training camp in the morning. After lunch, there will be a team event.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day four (Wednesday 5 August) is all about training. The day begins with a gruelling open training session – new signing Miguel Gutiérrez also takes part. A second session follows in the afternoon, this time behind closed doors.
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At the training camp in the Weimarer Land region, Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez and his long-standing assistant Pol García talk about their first few weeks with the Werkself, their expectations of their own work, the coaching staff and the squad, as well as the style of football they want the team to play. They emphasise the importance of a winning mentality within the team, comment on cultural and personal differences in the world of football, and outline their goals for the coming season...
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