Good news from the Werkself training ground: In the first session of the new week, several players were able to train after recently not being able to join their teammates for various reasons. Emrehan Gedikli, who picked up a minor injury with the Germany U19s, was back along with the South American players Exequiel Palacios, Piero Hincapie and Charles Aránguiz. The latter trained on his own as the Chilean midfielder picked up a knock playing for his country.
Patrik Schick, Robert Andrich and Paulinho were absent from the training ground. The trio, who were in the starting line-up for the Saturday's 4-3 defeat against Borussia Dortmund, completed a recovery session inside the BayArena. "We don't have any injuries from the Dortmund game. I think everybody will be in full training tomorrow," declared head coach Gerardo Seoane.
The forthcoming Europa league opener against Ferencváros on Thursday, 16th September (kick-off: 18.45 CEST) marks the start of a busy run of fixtures for Bayer 04. Seoane, who last season knocked the Werkself out of the competition with Young Boys Bern, explained in view of the packed fixture list: "We want to use the depth of the squad to again and again be ready to go."
The Swiss manager is looking forward to his European debut in Black and Red. Being able to measure up to "teams from different football cultures" is always very attractive. On the targets in the Europa League, he said: "We want to improve compared with last season and do well in this competition." The other group opponents for the Werkself are Celtic and Real Betis.
The records keep coming. Florian Wirtz put the Werkself ahead against Dortmund and he provided the assist for Patrik Schick to make it 2-1. The good performance by the Pulheim-born midfielder earned him a place in the ‘Team of the Week’ on both the ARD Sportschau and in the BILD newspaper.
But that's not all. Thanks to his goal against BVB, Wirtz is the youngest player in the history of the Bundesliga to score eight goals as well as the youngest with nine assists in the history of the league (one day younger than Bayer 04 homegrown star Kai Havertz). Also worth noting: No Bundesliga player, who has played at least 25 minutes, took less time to be involved in a goal this term – the 18-year-old has been involved in a goal every 25 minutes on average (two goals, three assists in 124 minutes). So may it continue, Flo!
Sporting managing director Rudi Völler has clearly positioned himself in the debate about the World Cup being played every two years instead of every four: "It's a crazy idea by FIFA," said the 61-year-old. "The most important thing now is for UEFA to stand firm. The association is too important for that. Nothing happens without UEFA. Exactly as Aleksander Ceferin (UEFA president, ed.) has already done when the first top clubs wanted the Super League. That would have destroyed football. And it's the same with the issue of the World Cup."
The 1990 World Cup winner, talking about the state of the league on BILD Live, added: "We are football romantics: Anybody who loves football cannot be in favour of an idea like that. Anyone that does it is against football. I would hope that there will be a signal from the DFB in the next few days: Without us!"
The German Football Association (DFB) has said that it is "fundamentally" in favour the current four-year cycle. "It's clear to me that German football will clearly back UEFA and the UEFA president," said the DFB interim president Peter Peters, who represents the DFB in FIFA, in an interview with kicker. The announced decision must still be discussed and approved by a meeting of the DFB committee. That has been arranged for Friday.
A night of football can end so well. With her goal to make it 2-0, Milena Nikolic sealed a home win for the Bayer 04 Women against FFC Turbine Potsdam (click HERE for the match report). The Bosnia-Herzegovina international then set off on her well-deserved run of celebration – and made a very special baby gesture (see photo). The reason: Her teammate Sandra Jessen gave birth to her child Ella Ylví a couple of days ago. Only the best for you, Sandra!
Today, Monday, is the start of the Germany wide week of action by the federal and state governments. Under the motto #HierWirdGeimpft (#Vaccinations here), as yet unvaccinated citizens are to be informed of short notice, creative and easily accessible vaccination campaigns in their region. Bayer 04 also supports vaccinations against Covid-19 and has already organised vaccination sessions at the BayArena as well as in the vicinity of the stadium – further information on the campaign can be found HERE.
A week after his departure on loan to Turkey, Joel Pohjanpalo celebrated his 27th birthday on Monday. Many happy returns. The Finland international, currently playing for Caykur Rizespor, went straight into the starting eleven for his debut on Sunday. Danger played for 82 minutes with Rizespor losing 2-0 to Hatayspor due to a late double.
And the former Leverkusen player Manuel Friedrich also celebrates his birthday on 13 September. The nine-time Germany international played for the Werkself from 2007 to 2013 making 147 Bundesliga appearances (11 goals, six assists). Friedrich ended his career in December 2015 after six months at Mumbai City FC in India. And best wishes to you too on your 42nd birthday.
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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