
From eight in the morning the Werkstatt was the scene of the action. The roll call included new signings Kevin Volland and Sam Schreck plus returnees Levin Öztunali, Joel Pohjanpalo, Danny da Costa and Niklas Lomb.
For the new and old boys there was the usual array of checks including spiroergometry, stamina tests, sight and balance tests plus other orthopaedic and clinical examinations to establish the basis for the start of outdoor training on Tuesday at ten a.m.
Happy Öztunali
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said a perspiring André Ramalho as he stepped off the treadmill at the Werkstatt. His group included Levin Öztunali who returns to the BayArena in determined mood after a loan spell at Werder Bremen. “I’m really happy to be back and I can hardly wait for the new season to kick off,” said the 20-year-old. His mate Julian Brandt was up later and Karim Bellarabi was also on time on Monday. Both were in the provisional Germany squad for Euro 2016 in France but failed to make the final cut.
Bernd Leno and Jonathan Tah were in France and started a well deserved break on Thursday after the semi-final exit. Along with the other Euros participants Hakan Calhanoglu, Admir Mehmedi, Tin Jedvaj, Julian Baumgartlinger and Ramazan Özcan plus Copa America participants Chicharito and Charles Aranguiz they will return to the Werkself over the coming weeks.
Tuesday: First public session
Following the performance tests head coach Roger Schmidt has organised the first training sessions for his players on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 10.00 and 16.00 CET each day. All the training sessions are open this week. There will be one session on Friday ahead of a friendly in the evening at 19.00 CET at SC Verl as part of the training camp in Marienfeld from 15 to 17 July.


Newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg will begin the 2026/27 season as Bundesliga club number 59. The Saarland club start their first Bundesliga campaign at home to the Werkself on Saturday, 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST) at the URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde, which is currently being rebuilt. For one Leverkusen player in the ‘Elv’ line-up, the clash will be a special reunion. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The fixture details for the Bayer 04 Women’s first match in the 2026/27 DFB Pokal has been confirmed: As announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning, the Leverkusen Women will face second-tier side FC Viktoria Berlin in the first round on Sunday 27 September at 14:00 CEST.
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Once again, well over 100 Werkself fans were delighted to receive an invitation from the club’s record appearance-maker, Rüdiger Vollborn, to the sold-out Schwadbud at the BayArena. This time, the supporters listened as the club historian provided fascinating, exclusive insights into the period from Bayer 04 being founded in 1904 to the club’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979. A journey through time is also planned for the upcoming ‘Rudi lädt ein’ event in early November – this time focusing on the years of the Nazi regime.
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Getting in the mood for the new season together, exchanging ideas and looking ahead to the coming months: Bayer 04 welcomed partners to the BayArena for the annual sponsors season-launch event. In a relaxed atmosphere, the management, head coach and players came together with representatives from partner companies to celebrate the start of the 2026/27 season.
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