While the players in the starting line-up for the victory at BVB began the week on exercise bikes or at a recovery session at the BayArena, a total of 13 Werkself players were back on the pitch on Tuesday morning.
Three Bayer 04 players took important steps on their way back to rejoining the squad: Daley Sinkgraven completed a full session with the team for the first time since his muscle injury. Depending on the how the week progresses for the Dutchman, a return to the squad for the next game against VfB Stuttgart could well be realistic. The Werkself entertain the Swabians in a night match on Saturday 12 February – the kick-off is at 18.30 CET.
Julian Baumgartlinger is also on the way back following his cruciate injury: The Austria international was able to complete a large number of passing drills. Exequiel Palacios was able to make several challenges with the coaching staff seeing how Pala reacts to the workload as head coach Gerardo Seoane explained after the training session.
Edmond Tapsoba will return to the Werkself on Wednesday afternoon: The 23-year-old has been in action with Burkina Faso at the Africa Cup of Nations where he played the full 90 minutes in six games. Head coach Seoane believes the Werkself number 12 will be fully available immediately.
Lukas Hradecky has to remain patient: The captain has not yet tested negative for Covid-19. The goalkeeper is keeping himself fit in his own four walls. It remains to be seen whether our number one will be able to play in goal against Stuttgart.
New signing Sardar Azmoun is currently working on stabilisation and fitness training in close discussion with the medical department following his ligament injury. While the 27-year-old did not have any problems after his first running session, the Iran international complained of pain with different shooting drills.
"With the situation that Patrik Schick and Lucas Alario are both completely fit, we’re in a good position and are able to give Sardar the necessary amount of time," said Seoane who believes the new signing will make his first appearance in a couple of weeks.
The former Werkself player Hakan Çalhanoğlu today celebrates his 28th birthday. The Turkey international played for the Black and Reds from 2014 to 2017 making 115 appearances across all competitions, scoring 28 times and providing 29 assists. The midfielder has been at Inter Milan since the summer of 2021.
Congratulations also go to Renato Augusto – he is now 34. The Brazilian midfielder joined Leverkusen in 2008 from his hometown club Flamengo Rio de Janeiro and he spent four years with the Werkself. He scored 12 goals in 126 games. The midfielder then returned to South America to join his current club Corinthians São Paulo where he is still playing after a spell in China from January 2016 to the summer of 2021.
The birthday list continues: Former Werkself head coach Bruno Labbadia is 55 today. Labbadia took over the position of head coach at Leverkusen for one season after managing second division SpVgg Greuther Fürth. He went on to join Hamburg SV after a season with the Werkself.
Many happy to returns to you too, Uwe Stöver. During his time as a player, Stöver joined Bayer 04 in 1989 from Cronenberger SC. The Wuppertal-born player went on to win the DFB Cup with the Werkself in 1992/1993. Stöver has been the sporting director and vice president at second division Holstein Kiel since 2019.
A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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So here we go again: Four weeks after the 2-0 home win in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, Olympiacos host the Werkself at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis this Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET - live on Werkself Radio) for the second encounter in a short space of time. It's the first leg of the knockout play-offs, and it's likely to be another high-intensity clash in a fiery atmosphere.
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The Werkself impressed in the 4-0 home win over FC St. Pauli with a performance that pleased head coach Kasper Hjulmand that had previously being missing and which he now wants to "use as a boost". Defenders Jarell Quansah and Edmond Tapsoba in particular once again stood firm at the back and scored at the other end - the latter now has the most goal involvements by a centre-back in the top five leagues. However, the Bayer 04 players are already looking forward to the forthcoming fixtures with a hunger for success and optimism. The Werkself review of the game on Carnival Saturday.
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