"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."
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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