Not normally a start full of fun but essential for a professional training programme. The Werkself are looking to lay the foundations for the most successful possible season over the coming weeks.
In addition to internal, orthopaedic and neurological tests, the players will go through an exhausting programme on Thursday and Friday with a series of jumping ability, stamina, vision and balance tests. In spite of that, the group were in high spirits. "Of course, after six weeks on holiday you look forward to coming back here. You somehow miss the team after such a long time," said a cheerful Kevin Volland. „"You know beforehand it will be two physically demanding days but that's all part of it."
The Bender twins and Kevin Volland were followed by the goalkeepers. Rambo Özcan was joined by the two new signings Lukas Hradecky and Thorsten Kirschbaum. Shortly after that came the next newcomer to Bayer 04 in the shape of Mitchell Weiser who completed the tests along with Panos Retsos and Dominik Kohr.
The Brazilian Paulinho will join up with the squad in the middle of July after celebrating his eighteenth birthday. The two players at the World Cup, Tin Jedvaj and Julian Brandt, are expected to return at the end of the month for the training camp in Zell am See-Kaprun. Jedvaj and Croatia face Russia in the quarter-finals on Saturday while Brandt is enjoying a well-deserved break after Germany's exit from the World Cup. The same applies to Jonathan Tah, who was in the initial Germany squad for Russia, and Julian Baumgartlinger plus Aleksandar Dragovic, who were on international duty with Austria after the end of the season.
The fans will have their first chance to see their team on the training ground on Saturday. Head coach Heiko Herrlich will lead the first session of the pre-season at 11.00 CET on training pitches 1 and 2. It will be broadcast in part live on Facebook and at bayer04.de.
Then it's time to get back on the bikes on Sunday. The Werkself are going to complete a three-day ride from Bad Bertrich via Koblenz and Bonn back to Leverkusen. "I can hardly wait," said Lars Bender with a smile, "we've all been measured up so we can have as comfortable a ride as possible with the right frame and, above all, the right saddle."
It's time for the first friendly of this summer's pre-season: the Werkself visit Rot-Weiss Essen this evening, Friday 26 July (kick-off 19:00 CEST). All the info on the match at the Stadion an der Hafenstraße.
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Martin Terrier's great anticipation for his first season outside his native France was noticeable. The 27-year-old forward beamed as he described his reasons for the move to the German double winners and his first impressions of day-to-day life in Leverkusen in his first press conference as a Werkself player. Terrier, who like team-mate has joined from Stade Rennes, also spoke about the competition for places in attack, Bayer 04's profile in France and his unusual goal celebration.
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Time to roll up the sleeves and do some good again: At what was now the eighth edition of the BAYER 04 HILFT Day, staff and players once again dedicated an entire day to a good cause this year. Following last year's efforts at NaturGut Ophoven, this time the Bayer 04 team restored the outdoor area of a Leverkusen children's day-care centre with great support from Lebenshilfe-Werkstätten Leverkusen and club partner Coca-Cola.
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With weloveholidays, Bayer 04 Leverkusen welcomes another official partner to the German champions and DFB Cup winners’ Sponsors Club. As part of the British loveholidays group, weloveholidays is one of Europe’s biggest and fastest growing online travel companies. The partnership between the Bundesliga club and the company, which has been active in Germany since May 2023, is set to run until 30 June 2026.
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