Following on from Patrik Schick and Charles Aránguiz, Exequiel Palacios is the third international player back in Leverkusen at the start of the second week of the preseason. The midfielder completed large parts of full training in the first session of the new season. Head coach Gerardo Seoane focused on a range of moves in restricted space.
After the joint warm-up routine, Schick worked one-to-one on his finishing with fitness coaches Schahriar Bigdeli and Daniel Jouvin.
This week, Robert Andrich and Co. will be on training pitch one daily from 10.30 CEST by the BayArena. All sessions are open to Black and Red fans. The Seoane team also have a second session in the stadium on Tuesday 5 July and Thursday 7 July.
Please note: Changes may be made at short notice, Bayer 04 will inform fans via the club media.
The Werkself play the first preseason friendly on Saturday 9 July. The match against third division MSV Duisburg is in Velbert at 15.30 CEST. The ticket office at the IMS Arena is open two hours before kick-off at 13.30 CEST.
The 4 x 100 metre relay team of German para-athletes set a new record on Friday 1 July at the home meeting for TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the Fritz Jacobi facility: First leg runner Phil Grolla, Johannes Floors, Markus Rehm and final leg runner Felix Streng completed the run in an incredible 40.52 seconds and are now the new world record holders.
The previous record time of 40.73 seconds was set by the USA at the 2013 World Cup in Lyon. "Of course, we hoped we could do that time. But it's simply fantastic that it really happened in the end," raved Rehm following the race.
A number of TSV athletes also produced personal bests at the home meeting. Congratulations and great respect for all the performances.
Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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