After over 24 hours of uncertainty for Charles Aránguiz and Co. the South American Football Association CONMEBOL has provided clarity: The Copa América, with the Werkself players Charles Aránguiz (Chile) plus Lucas Alario and Exequiel Palacios (Argentina) on the road with their national teams, will now take place – in Brazil. Due to the worsening of the pandemic in the original host countries of Argentina and Colombia, the two countries were no longer considered as venues for the continental tournament so that CONMEBOL were forced to take immediate action. The Copa América will be played from 13 June to 10 July.
The former Werkself player Arturo Vidal was also due to play in World Cup qualifiers and take part in the Copa América with Chile. Due to a Covid-19 infection, the 34-year-old has now been admitted to a clinic in the Chilean capital of Santiago de Chile with a fever and swollen glands. All the players in the Chile squad, including Charles Aránguiz, received the coronavirus vaccination last Friday. Vidal, currently at Inter Milan, will at least miss the World Cup qualifiers for his home country against Argentina and Bolivia. Bayer 04 wish you a speedy recovery, Arturo.
From the South American to the European continent: The two Werkself players Florian Wirtz and Lennart Grill are in the semi-finals of the U21 European Championship with the Germany U21s. The team under head coach Stefan Kuntz progressed in a dramatic quarter-final against Denmark with an 8-7 victory on penalties. The opponents in the semi-final on Thursday, 3 June (kick-off: 21.00 CEST) are the Netherlands who went through in the quarter-finals against the France U21 team including Moussa Diaby.
Planning for the fixture lists for the Bundesliga and second division is at a key stage. As announced by the German Football League (DFL) today (Tuesday), the fixtures for the 34 matchdays in Germany's top two divisions will be announced on the DFL website on Friday 25 June.
Bayer 04 are gaining another cup winner for the new season: VfL Wolfsburg keeper, Friederike Abt, who will play for the Werkself next season, won the Women's DFB Cup with the Wolves last Sunday. Abt replaced the Wolfsburg keeper Almuth Schult in extra time after she was sent off. The Werkself keeper to be kept a clean sheet in the Wolfsburg goal for the rest of the match and was able to celebrate a 1-0 victory in the final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Javier Hernández, better known as Chicharito, which translates as 'Little Pea', celebrates his 33rd birthday today (Tuesday). The lively Mexican, who played for the Werkself between 2015 and 2017, made 76 appearances for Leverkusen, scored 39 goals and provided nine assists and he quickly became a real favourite of Black and Red supporters. ¡Feliz cumpleaños, Chicharito!
This fan meeting got off to a rather unexpected start. On Sunday afternoon, the Bayer 04 managing directors had just welcomed the fans present at the team hotel for the traditional get-together at the training camp when Fernando Carro’s phone rang. The CEO, glancing towards managing director sport Simon Rolfes with a smile, said: “We’ll just have to answer that quickly.” When asked by the fans what the call was actually about, the pair left it open with a wink. Instead, Carro and Rolfes then spent over an hour happily answering the fans’ many other questions.
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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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With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 3-0 victory in the friendly match against Rot-Weiss Essen...
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