News in brief: Schick and Aránguiz back in Leverkusen

The Bayer 04 players Patrik Schick and Charles Aránguiz have returned from their well-deserved summer break and have been back with the Werkself since Thursday morning. "Charly had problems with the return flight from South America but has come back in good shape yesterday," declared Simon Rolfes, sporting managing director at the Werkself. The stalwart completed the warm-up routine with the team and then the Chile international trained on his own with fitness coach Daniel Jouvin. Andrich, Bellarabi & Co. completed passing drills and moves on a small-sized pitch.

Schick completed the performance tests in the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehab and training centre at the BayArena. As with his teammates, the Czech Republic international completed diagnostic and medical tests. The 26-year-old then went on the treadmill for the spiroergometry procedure.

The team under head coach Gerardo Seoane trained inside the BayArena in the afternoon. The second session of the day involved a range of stamina exercises.

Friday and Saturday: open Training

The plan for the Werkself for the rest of the week is as follows: Tomorrow (1 July) and Saturday (2 July) the Werkself will be back on the training ground in the shadow of the BayArena from 10.30 CEST. Both sessions are open to fans.

Please note: Changes at short notice possible any time. Bayer 04 will inform fans by the club media channels.

U19 euros: germany lose again

Clara Fröhlich, Sofie Zdebel and the Germany U19 team lost 2-1 to Norway in the European Championships in the Czech Republic. Germany gave away an early lead and ended up with a narrow defeat. Fröhlich was in the starting line-up and she played the full 90 minutes.

The team under national coach Kathrin Peter lost 2-0 to Sweden in the opening match. That means the Germany U19s are currently bottom of Group B with no points.

The next and final group match for Fröhlich, Zdebel & Co. is against England on Sunday 3 July. The kick-off is at 20.00 CEST and the match will be broadcast live on free of charge at uefa.tv.

Tapsoba nominated as player of the year

A great honour for Edmond Tapsoba: The central defender has been nominated in the category of Player of the Year at the CAF Award 2022. Also nominated are Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), who has already won the award twice, plus Sadio Mane who has just joined Bayern Munich.

The winner is chosen by a panel made up of a committee of the CAF, a range of media pundits, head coaches, captains of the membership associations and the clubs involved in the group stage of the inter club competitions. The result will be announced on 21 July before the final of the Women's Nations Cup (Wafcon).

TSV host Para-athletics home match

No plans for tomorrow? TSV Bayer 04 are organising a para-athletics home match for the third time on Friday. It is at the Fritz Jacobi venue in Leverkusen and entry is free. The event will also be broadcast on the Bayer 04 YouTube channel.

20 years ago today: world cup title for Lucio

It is 20 years since the Werkself were the most successful club at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan: Lucio, Oliver Neuville, Hans-Jörg Butt, Bernd Schneider, Carsten Ramelow and Rudi Völler were in the final of the tournament, which saw Brazil beat Germany 2-0, meaning there was one World Cup winner and five World Cup runners-up from the Black and Reds. And that's not all: In the match for third place, the Werkself player at the time Yildiray Bastürk picked up a bronze medal in the 3-2 win for Turkey against South Korea – an impressive record for the team from Leverkusen.

three happy birthdays

Bayer 04 congratulate Thorsten Judt on his 51st birthday. Judt Played for the Leverkusen Reserves until 1994 before moving onto Fortuna Düsseldorf for the 1994/95 season. The former midfielder now works for the Werkself. Ramon Menezes also celebrates his birthday: The former Bayer 04 player was with the Werkself between 1995 1996 and today he is 50 years old. The third birthday boy with the Black and Reds is Terry Peters: The Dutchman started alongside former head coach Peter Bosz in 2018 as a fitness coach with the Werkself and in the summer of 2021 Peters and Bosz moved on to Lyon. Happy 36th birthday to you too.