The first round of the DFB Cup will be drawn on Sunday 26 July from 18.30 CET. As announced by ARD on Tuesday, the channel will broadcast the draw live on the ‘Sportschau’. There will be a number of unknown quantities in the draw as the cup competitions of the state associations were not completed due to the break enforced by the coronavirus pandemic.
The finals of the state cups will be played on 22 August at an amateurs finals day (from 14.30 CET/live on ARD). The first round ties in the DFB Cup will be played between 11 and 14 September, a week before the start of the Bundesliga.
The first leg of the Round of 16 tie for Bayer 04 at Glasgow Rangers (3-1) was – in contrast to the Werkself – the last competitive match for the Scottish side up to now. The Scottish Premier League was abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic and Rangers finished in second place. Steven Gerrard recalled his players in the middle of July. Rangers are not just preparing for the Europa League second leg match at the BayArena on 6 August (kick-off: 18.55 CET) but also for the new league season that starts a few days earlier.
Rangers have already played two friendlies ahead of the opening fixture away to Aberdeen on 1 August. The Scots played in Lyon against Olympique and Nice. Gerrard’s team won both games 2-0. Ianis Hagi netted a brace against Lyon; the goals against Nice were scored by Jermain Defoe and Jamie Barjonas. Both games were played in front of a limited number of supporters who maintained social distancing guidelines in the stands. Rangers have another two friendlies planned in the next few days.
If the Werkself are in the quarter-finals after the Round of 16 second leg against Rangers then they would face the winners of match between Inter Milan and Getafe, in Düsseldorf on 10 August (kick-off: 21.00 CET). While the Italians are still involved in Serie A until the August, Getafe completed their league fixtures on Sunday 19 July.
On the final matchday, the team coached by Pepe Bordalás could have secured a place in the Europa League with a win at UD Levante – the team from Valencia were not playing for European qualification or to maintain their top-flight status. While the rivals from San Sebastián (1-1 at Atlético Madrid) and Granada (4-0 against Bilbao) picked up points, Getafe lost 1-0 to Levante and were out of the running for a place in Europe.
While Getafe failed to qualify for Europe via the league, their opponents from northern Italy have already qualified for the Champions League next season. With four games to play in Serie A, the team under coach Antonio Conte are in second place with a 14-point lead over fifth-placed AS Roma. Mathematically, Inter are still in with a chance of lifting the league title. However, that appears unlikely given the eight-point deficit to Juventus.
Two former Werkself players celebrated their birthdays on Wednesday: Central defender Ömer Toprak, who now plays for Werder Bremen, will be 31. Born in Ravensburg, he played for Bayer 04 from 2011 to 2017 making a total of 154 Bundesliga games for the Black and Reds. Andrej Voronin was at Bayer 04 for three years (2004 to 2007). The former player scored 32 goals for the Werkself in 92 Bundesliga games. The Ukrainian is 41 on Wednesday.
The current Bayer 04 defender Wendell celebrates his birthday a day earlier. The always cheerful Brazilian starts his seventh season with Bayer 04 in September and is 27 on Tuesday. Bayer 04 wish the trio: Many happy returns (belatedly)!
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. The programme for day two (Monday, 3 August) centres on two training sessions – one in the morning (open to the public) and one in the early evening (behind closed doors) – at the nearby training grounds. In the afternoon, fans can look forward to a big fan meet-up with club legend Paulo Sergio at Schloss Blankenhain.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended Abdoulaye Faye’s contract by a further year to 30 June 2031. During the 2026/27 season, the talented defender will play for Celta Vigo on loan without an option to buy. The 21-year-old Senegalese is set to feature in La Liga and the UEFA Europa League with last season’s sixth-placed side in Spain.
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The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme on day one (Sunday 2 August) includes a media round with managing director sport Simon Rolfes, free time for the team after the friendly against Rot-Weiss Essen and before an intensive week of training begins, as well as a coffee get-together where CEO Fernando Carro and Rolfes met around 100 fans in the afternoon.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed Kerim Alajbegovic’s transfer to Italian record champions Juventus. The club brought the 18-year-old attacking player back to Leverkusen this summer via a buy-back option, following a season at Red Bull Salzburg. Until his move to Austria, the Bosnia international had been playing for Bayer 04’s Under-19s.
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A warm welcome to the Weimarer Land, Bayer 04! The Werkself moved into their accommodation for this year’s training camp on Saturday evening. In Blankenhain, Thuringia, head coach Carles Martínez’s team have a programme of gruelling training sessions – several of which will be open to fans – and team-building activities lined up for the next six days. We’ll be following the Werkself up close and providing you with exclusive insights, quotes, photos and videos from the training camp.
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