News in brief: Politicians discuss return of fans

"It felt really great," declared head coach Peter Bosz after the DFB Cup first round tie against Eintracht Norderstedt – and that not only reflected the 7-0 win for his team (click HERE for the highlights video on DFB.de). The Werkself were able to play in front of fans at the BayArena for the first time since the beginning of March. A total of 300 were seated in the West Stand – currently the upper limit permitted in stadiums in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Spectators: discussions on Tuesday

The possibility that the number could be increased for the Bundesliga season opener at the weekend – Bayer 04 kick off at Wolfsburg on Sunday, 20 September (kick-off: 18.00 CET) – was suggested by NRW Minister President Amin Laschet last Friday after a virtual sports summit with representatives of different sports clubs. "It could be a few thousand in football stadiums," declared the 59-year-old. The CDU politician added that the corona virus protection order "was up for discussion and possible amendment at a meeting of the state cabinet on Tuesday." Laschet added that the percentage of spectators allowed would be decided by the local public health authorities based on hygiene policies.

Relive 'Digital kick-off'

A day before the opening game of the season against Norderstedt, Bayer 04 prepared the fans for the start of campaign last Saturday via digital means. The 'Digital kick off 2020/21' was packed with 90 minutes of black and red entertainment. This included Fernando Carro, chairman of the board, and Thomas Eichin, head of the youth section, and many other guests reporting exclusively on the inner workings of the club. The 'Digital kick off 2020/21' is available to watch on the Bayer 04 YouTube channel. Click HERE for the video.

In Austria: Helmes is interim coach

Patrick Helmes, at Leverkusen as a player from 2008 to January 2011, is the new interim coach at FC Admira Wacker Mödling. The former head coach Zvonimir Soldo offered to resign a few days ago for private reasons and the top-flight club agreed to the two parties going their separate ways. Helmes had been in charge of the youth side at the Austrian club and on Monday he led his first training session. The 36-year-old was a youth coach at Bayer 04 for two years before moving to Austria in the middle of July this year.

Lottner: coach at Cottbus

In addition to Helmes, another former Werkself player has recently taken on a new professional challenge: Dirk Lottner is now the coach of the Northeast Regional League side Energie Cottbus. Until December 2019, the 48-year-old was coach at FC Saarbrücken with the semi-final opponents for Bayer 04 in last year's DFB Cup competition. Lottner, who played for Leverkusen from 1997 to January 1999, is the successor to Sebastian Abt at Cottbus.