News in brief: Women's team in carnival mood

An unusual scene at Kurtekotten: Even though carnival cannot be celebrated in the usual fashion this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bayer 04 Women's team made the best out of the situation on Thursday for Shrove Tuesday. Carnival music rang out in the Performance Centre for the warm-up in small groups in the gym. With everybody in a good mood, the team under head coach Achim Feifel then made their way to the artificial pitch – in colourful carnival outfits:

The Bayer 04 women have this weekend off. The game in the FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga on matchday 13 between MSV Duisburg and Bayer 04, due to played on Sunday 14 February (14.00 CET), has been postponed. The pitches at the Schauinsland Reisen Arena and the alternative venue in Duisburg are unplayable. The fixture has yet to be rearranged.

Rolfes: Data collection is "no fad"

Bayer 04 sporting director Simon Rolfes is convinced by the growing significance of data collection in professional football. "Perhaps you sometimes could have a sort of crystal ball and be able to say: A goal will be scored in the next 90 seconds with a probability of 75%. That would definitely be interesting," said the 39-year-old in an interview with t-online. Since the end of last year, Rolfes has been an expert at the DFL on 'Bundesliga Match Facts'. That makes the former Werkself player the patron of real-time statistics for Bundesliga fixtures that have be shown on TV match broadcasts since the start of the season.

Bayer 04 have been working on data collection and analysis for several years in tandem with Stats Perform. This partnership has recently been extended: The Werkself now have access to Edge Analysis, and instrument design support match preparation. The new system "enables us to make the step from descriptive analysis to predictive analysis, which I think is the future of performance analysis in football," said Marcel Daum, analysis assistant coach at the Werkself.

Ahead of #B04M05: Kießling as pundit in Club house Talk

The perfect way to get in the mood for the home game: The Werkself entertain FSV Mainz 05 at the BayArena on Saturday 13 February (kick-off: 15.30 CET). One hour before kick-off sees the start of the Werks11 warm-up #B04M05 talk show. This is available live on the Clubhouse audio platform.

This time the Bayer 04 club legend Stefan Kießling is the pundit at the start and Michael Strohmeier from the online magazine FUMS is also a guest. Stadium announcer Tobias Ufer plus Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann of Werks11 Radio will lead the discussion. The best bit about that: You the fans can switch on and join in live with Kies and Co. for the following 90 minutes. Tune in.

Your memories of the Benders

Passion, personality, commitment – two great careers are coming to the end after 15 years in professional football. This summer brings the retirement of the twins Lars and Sven Bender from the Bundesliga. Bayer 04, together with the fans, want to say thank you. As with Stefan Kießling in 2018, the two fans Maria and Lea are putting together an album with personal messages from Werkself fans for the Bender twins.

Send us your memories, anecdotes and photos with the duo as well as personal wishes for Lars, Sven or both via email to loewenclub@bayer04.de. We will pass on these messages to Lea and Maria. As a special incentive for those submissions, Bayer 04 will raffle a shirt signed by all the team from the Europa League quarter-final against Inter Milan.

Hyypiä and frosty times

Germany at the moment is subject to minus temperatures and icy winds. The East is particularly hard-hit. For example, RB Leipzig, who entertain FC Augsburg on Friday night, with training in temperatures of -15 this week. However, the temperatures have no effect on the Bundesliga matches due to be played: The DFB says minus temperatures are no reason to postpone games.

It was a different picture in the years when former Leverkusen player and head coach Sami Hyypiä was playing in his home country of Finland. "All games were called off with temperatures of minus 15," said the now 47-year-old in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Hyypiä experienced his coldest game not in Finland but during his time in a Werkself shirt: In December 2010, the Bayer 04 central defender is playing in the group stage of the Europa League at Rosenberg in Trondheim, in Norway (1-0). "At the end of the game the temperature was minus 18," said Hyypiä. "At some point you don't feel your toes any more and you lose the feel for the ball." Today's Werkself players do not have to expect temperatures like that in the home game against Mainz 05 on Saturday…

Happy birthday, Rudi

Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for nearly 40 years, he has the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Cup (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist.

On his 58th birthday, Bayer 04 published the first part of the new section ‘Rudi recounts…’ at bayer04.de. Here, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a small trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month. We say: Many happy returns, Rudi.