The Black and Reds – with the exception of the international players – have time until Sunday to enjoy the summer break at their leisure before head coach Peter Bosz welcomes his charges back on Monday at 14.30 CET (open training session). A trio can hardly wait to get going again. "I'm really looking forward to Monday. I think everybody can imagine how it feels to start the new season fully fit after 13 months out injured," said Joel Pohjanpalo, who like Karim Bellarabi, has been putting in special shifts since the start of the week in Leverkusen. "I want to get ahead for the new season especially after this long injury lay-off. And I'd like to be sure that I'm in best shape and fully fit when we start with the full training sessions," said the 24-year-old striker who suffered severe problems in his right ankle shortly after the start of the last pre-season. "Since the start of June, I’ve been certain that everything is fine with my foot – I don't have any problems at all now," added Pohjanpalo.
While the Finn, together with keeper Niklas Lomb, took part in passing drills and finishing, Bellarabi worked with the ball in a one-on-one session with rehab coach Hans-Jörg Schneider and he visibly enjoyed it. The 28-year-old suffered a muscle and tendon injury at the end of March in the game against Hoffenheim that finished his season. Goalkeeper Niklas Lomb rejoins the goalkeeping team for the new campaign after a 12-month loan period at second division SC Sandhausen.
Assistant coach Remzi Kahraman is leaving the Bayer 04 Women’s team with immediate effect to take up a new challenge abroad. The club has agreed to the 31-year-old’s request to leave, although his contract was originally due to run until 2027. A decision on his successor will be announced shortly.
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At the U19 European Championship in Wales, the Germany U19 national team lost their third and final group match 4-0 to Spain. Several regulars, including Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan to SV Elversberg), who had combined for four goals and assists in the two previous victories, did not feature,. Germany had already secured their place in the semi-finals with a game to spare.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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At the end of June, Bayer 04 became the first team in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga to begin their pre-season preparations. As well as training sessions at the Kurtekotten facility, the players under coach Roberto Pätzold completed the customary series of performance diagnostics. Werkself-TV presents exclusive insights and player interviews from the first few days after the summer break.
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