Following the DFB Cup final on 4 July and an unusual and intensive run of games, the Werkself were able to enjoy a break before the first coronavirus tests are taken on Wednesday evening. A second set of tests will be carried out on Thursday morning and the first training session will be held tomorrow night. That marked the start of preparations for the Round of 16 second leg match in the Europa league against Glasgow Rangers on 6 August (kick-off: 18.55 CET).
Also undergoing tests is summer signing Lennart Grill. The goalkeeper joined Bayer 04 from third division FC Kaiserslautern and – given a negative test result – he will take part in the first training after a short break.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the initial training session and all other sessions will be held behind closed doors until further notice.
The Werkself are in second place behind FC Bayern on 61.5% in the Bundesliga rankings of teams with the most possession last season. Another stat was published on Wednesday in the Sport Bild magazine and the Black and Reds also did very well in that – and it is a Europea-wide statistic. Bayer 04 covered an average per game of 11.9 kilometres in possession of the ball. This figure puts the Bosz team fourth of all the clubs from the top five leagues in Europe (England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany). The ranking led by FC Bayern sees the Werkself ahead of big clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain and Juventus.
Bayer 04 are also high up the table in the top five leagues in terms of the number of passes per game: The average of 656 completed passes puts the Rhinelanders in seventh place. Ahead of Liverpool, Napoli, Real Madrid and Juventus.
After relegation from the second division, Dynamo Dresden have extended the contract with assistant coach and former Werkself player Heiko Scholz by twelve months to 2021. The 54-year-old former winger joined Bayer 04 from Dresden as a player in 1992 and he went on to play in 75 Bundesliga matches for the Black and Reds (five goals, five assists). After three years, he moved on to Werder Bremen where he ended his playing career in the summer of 2000.
Scholz has been a coach since 2003. In December of last year, he gave up his position as head coach at the North-East Regional League side Wacker Nordhausen and took over as caretaker coach at Dynamo following the dismissal of Christian Fiel. Scholz is now assistant to Dynamo Dresden's head coach Markus Kauczinski.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss at VfL Wolfsburg on the 20th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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After full time in the 1-1 draw against FC Bayern Munich, the Bayer 04 fans first had to catch their breath. Firstly because of their usual loud support, and secondly because of the great drama they'd witnessed on the pitch: three disallowed goals, two red cards and a Werkself side who "again produced a very good performance against strong opponents", as head coach Kasper Hjulmand described. The Dane was particularly enthused by the performance of young Montrell Culbreath, while Patrik Schick got to enjoy his 200th appearance under the Cross. The Werkself Review unpacks the action.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against FC Bayern Munich on Matchday 26 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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Bayer 04 were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Bayern Munich in an eventful Matchday 26 fixture in the Bundesliga. Aleix Garcia had given the Werkself the lead inside six minutes, but Bayern levelled in the second half through Luis Diaz, despite Nicolas Jackson having been send off before the break. Diaz was then dismissed himself as Leverkusen pushed for a winner, which failed to materialise as Jonas Hofmann saw a late goal ruled out.
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