"It was purely a preventative measure as Karim received a knock to his pelvis in the game. We wanted to see how he would get on after two days off," said the Swiss coach.
Bellarabi made it 2-0 for the Werkself on Saturday – that was his 57th goal for the Black and Reds. That puts the winger eighth in the all-time list of goalscorers for Bayer 04. The 31-year-old has been under the Bayer Cross since 2011 – with the exception of a loan spell at Eintracht Braunschweig in 2013/14.
"Karim brings a lot of energy to the team," Seoane made clear to the media after the Tuesday afternoon training session. In addition to his physicality and dynamism on the pitch, "he above all helps the team with his experience. He plays efficiently, and finds the right space as with his goal at the weekend." The Werkself number 38 has played an important role in recent years and influences the team with his positive approach.
According to the 43-year-old coach, Bellarabi's qualities will be of great importance in the coming weeks if the Werkself are to be in the running to qualify for the Champions League in the Bundesliga run-in: "Karim has already played for us in the champions league and it was in the DFB Cup semi-final. So, he knows how to deal with the club's ambitions. That helps us."
Despite the international break, numerous Werkself fans turned up at the BayArena on Saturday 3 October. The occasion: Bayer 04, together with Bayer Vital and main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer, organised a Health Day. In the stadium’s Premium Lounge, guests listened to fascinating talks on the subject of cancer, featuring, amongst others, Bayer 04 record appearance holder Rüdiger Vollborn and former Werkself player Hans Sarpei. Afterwards, young and old alike enjoyed interactive stations such as a grip strength test and eye pupil test.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 3-2 win against Werder Bremen on Matchday 6 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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Thanks to a thrilling second-half comeback, the Bayer 04 women’s team secured their first home win this term. Against Werder Bremen, the Werkself stepped up their game significantly after the break and turned a two-goal deficit into a 3–2 win. Cornelia Kramer (54’, 56’) and Lobke Loonen (81’) scored the goals that earned coach Roberto Pätzold’s team their first points at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium in the current Bundesliga season.
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A commanding performance: In a friendly during the international break, Bayer 04 defeated third-division newcomers SC Fortuna Köln 6–0. Martin Terrier and Patrik Schick scored twice each with Nathan Tella and Miguel Gutiérrez netting the other goals for Leverkusen. Due to preparations at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for tonight’s Bayer 04 women’s Bundesliga home game against Werder Bremen (kick-off: 18:30 CEST), the fixture against the Cologne side was played at the Werkself training ground.
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