News in brief: Volland working on comeback

Volland back on the ball

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.

Happy Birthday, MiTch!

He came into the world in 1994 – today, Mitchell Weiser celebrates his 26^th 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.

Doc Dittmar on safeguards

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.

Series on honorary captains

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.

Eight years ago today...

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.