"Karim will definitely miss a couple of games but we are hoping Jona will be able to play at the weekend," said the Swiss coach about the two players who went off injured. Bellarabi suffered a muscle injury in his left thigh in the Bochum game, and Tah was taken off due to a rib injury.
Sardar Azmoun was able to train again with the squad on Wednesday after recovering from flu. "Sardar needs more time to be 100% fit," said Seoane. The 43-year-old coach is still hoping to be able to call on the services of the winter signing against Leipzig on Sunday 17 April (kick-off: 19.30 CEST): "He can help us immediately in the run-in with his instinct and his technique."
The difficult personnel situation – with Wirtz, Adli, Frimpong and Fosu-Mensah already out for the rest of the season – was specifically excluded as an excuse by Seoane in the press conference: "We have the motivation and the ambition to achieve the maximum."
The head coach is confident looking back at the first half of the season: "We showed how to do it before the winter break when we didn't have any strikers available. We have to believe in our own strengths and look for new options."
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The Germany U19 team were beaten 2-0 by record champions Spain in the final of the U19 European Championship in Wales. Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan at SV 07 Elversberg) were in the starting line-up and played the full 90 minutes.
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