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!
Bosnia U19 international Kerim Alajbegovic is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth set-up to Red Bull Salzburg. The talented attacking midfielder has signed a long-term contract with the Austrian club. At the same time, the works club secured a buy-back option for the 17-year-old, who was one of the mainstays of the Leverkusen U19s.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Premier League club Chelsea in the final pre-season friendly. The game against the current holders of the UEFA Conference League is on Friday, 8 August at Stamford Bridge with the kick-off at 20:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Dutch top-flight club Fortuna Sittard in the third pre-season friendly. The match is on Friday, 1 August at the Fortuna Sittard stadium with the kick-off at 19:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to VfL Bochum in the second pre-season friendly. The match is on Sunday, 27 July at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion with the kick-off at 18:00 CEST. Read on for the latest information on ticket sales.
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