
One Werkself player can actually benefit from the suspension of matches due to the coronavirus pandemic: Kevin Volland. What the 27-year-old most needed after his injury blow was time. And he got it. It’s almost two months since Volland suffered an ankle injury in a challenge in the Europa League game against FC Porto, he then underwent an immediate operation and is now working on his recovery. After weeks of rehab in the Werkstatt at the BayArena, Volland is now back on the training ground and working with the ball again. The striker had almost written off the current season but now a comeback could be on the agenda if the season starts again.
He came into the world in 1994 – today, Mitchell Weiser celebrates his 26th birthday. Bayer 04 wish him a very happy and, above all, healthy birthday. In the morning, ‘Mitch’ received congratulations from his teammates – obviously with the prescribed social distancing – at the training session at the BayArena. The evening will provide the chance for a longer celebration as the Werkself have tomorrow off.
The squad under Peter Bosz returned to training at the club on 1 April in small groups – of course, following all regulations and adhering to the distancing rule. Karl-Heinrich Dittmar, medical director at Bayer 04, explains how it works – on bayer04.de.



The ranks of the honorary captains were extended by the addition of Rüdiger Vollborn and Stefan Kießling in the summer of 2019. bayer04.de is using the current period without games to say a big thank you to these Werkself legends. The six-part series comes to an end this Friday with a profile of Vollborn.
Former Bayer 04 player Dominik Kohr made his Bundesliga debut eight years ago to the day – and that was at Leverkusen. The Bayer 04 homegrown player made his first appearance at the age of 18 under coach Sascha Lewandowski in the 1-0 away win at TSG Hoffenheim when he replaced André Schürrle on 89 minutes – the first Bundesliga match of a total of 162 to date (54 for Bayer 04, 91 for FC Augsburg, 17 for Eintracht Frankfurt). Kohr left the Werkself in the summer to join Eintracht Frankfurt and he has made 29 appearances.


The Bayer 04 women’s team secured a win in the friendly during the international break. Without a total of eight international players, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team defeated Bundesliga 2 side Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 at the Kurtekotten Training Centre, thanks to goals from Lobke Loonen (1’, penalty), Caroline Kehrer (41') and Valentina Mädl (66').
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without striker Christian Kofane in the coming weeks. The 20-year-old sustained a muscle injury to his left thigh on international duty with the Cameroon national team during the recent international break. This will prevent him from playing in the upcoming Werkself matches.
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FSV Mainz 05 went into the international break on the back of an away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Currently sixth in the table, the Rheinhessen side – who have been impressive on the road – now aim to continue their good start to the Bundesliga campaign at home when they face the Werkself on Saturday, 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). In terms of squad selection, Urs Fischer once again has more options at his disposal. Up front, the Mainz coach is likely to continue relying on what is currently the league’s most successful strike partnership. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
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Fans ask, Carolin Simon answers: As part of Bayer 04’s second Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, the Leverkusen captain took questions from the community. The full-back, who returned to the club this summer after ten years away, set aside an hour and a half for the Q&A session with fans, offering a very personal insight into, amongst other things, her daily life as a footballer and her role as captain, as well as her passion for Pokémon.
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