In mild temperatures and occasional sunshine, Charles Aránguiz and his teammates stepped onto the pitch at the BayArena. That included Lukas Hradecky, Joel Pohjanpalo and Jonathan Tah. The Finland duo and the Germany international returned from international duty at the start of the week. Pohjanpalo and Tah did recovery work on Tuesday while goalkeeper Hradecky completed the 'normal' training session with his colleagues.
Peter Bosz and his coaching staff are intensively preparing the Werkself this week for the first round of the DFB Cup. The opponents on Sunday, 13 September (kick-off: 15.30 CET) are North Regional League side Eintracht Norderstedt. The knockout tie will be played in front of 300 spectators at the BayArena.
It will happen on Saturday, 12 September: Bayer 04 are broadcasting "90+4 – Digital kick-off to the 2020/21 season” live from 15.30 CET on YouTube and bayer04.de . We will announce content of the broadcast over the course of the week.
This will include Sven Bender presenting his brother Lars Bender with the trophy for the best goal of last season – and also giving a small speech. You can also win signed Karim Bellarabi, Kerem Demirbay and Nadiem Amiri shirts. So, join in and watch the broadcast on Saturday!
Friedhelm Renno first came to Leverkusen in 1963 when the goalkeeper joined from Arminia Bielefeld. He then played for the Werkself between the sticks for six years. In his penultimate season in Black and Red, Renno celebrated winning the Regional League West with his teammates. Bayer 04 was his last club as a professional player. But the club remained his sporting home after the end of his career: In September 1970, Renno was head coach at the Werkself for nine months. Now he is a representative on the Bayer 04 Council of Elders – and he is 80 today (Tuesday). We wish Friedhelm many happy returns!
In addition to Renno, another former Bayer 04 player celebrates his birthday on 8 September. Herbert Waas, who played for Leverkusen from 1982 to January 1990 (240 Bundesliga appearances/83 goals) and the first Germany international from Leverkusen, is 57. Bayer 04 also wish Herbert many happy returns!
In glorious sunshine and temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius, the Bayer 04 Women have begun their preparations for the new season. With a relaxed first session at the Kurtekotten training centre, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team became the first Bundesliga side to resume training after a 37-day break.
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Black and Red stand out. Under the slogan ‘Diversity under the Cross’, Bayer 04 took part in Pride on the Rhine at the weekend alongside the queer fan club “Bayer 04 Junxx”. The club mascot, Brian the Lion, and several members of staff were also in attendance, championing diversity and solidarity.
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Centre-back Melissa Friedrich is set to remain at Bayer 04 for another year. The longest-serving player in the squad, who joined the club in 2016, has extended her contract to 2027.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Portugal U21 international Afonso Moreira. The 21-year-old winger joins the club from French top-flight side Olympique Lyon on a contract to 30 June 2031. In France last year, the left-winger made 37 appearances in Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and the UEFA Europa League, scoring a total of eight goals and providing eleven assists.
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