Lars Bender and Leon Bailey were on the training ground in drizzle. They worked on their own on running plus some ball work. Good news: Daley Sinkgraven, who suffered a thigh injury in the 1-1 draw with RB Leipzig at the start of October, returned to training, also on an individual basis.
Bad news from the north of Europe: Werkself striker Joel Pohjanpalo, away with the Finland team preparing for the Euro qualifier against Liechtenstein on Friday (15 November), suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle in training. "And that just before one of the most important games in my career," said the 25-year-old on his Instagram platform. Pohjanpalo will start rehab in Finland. "I want to give this fantastic team my full support," said the Finn ahead of a possible first qualification for the European Championship finals. The striker is due to return to Leverkusen in the middle of next week.
Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez wore a Werkself shirt for two years before moving on to Premier League club West Ham United and then his current club Seville who he joined in the summer. During the derby game against Real Betis (1-2) there was an attempted break-in at the Hernandez villa. A member of the household staff intervened and raised the alarm. The perpetrators were able to flee. Fortunately nobody was hurt
Werkself pro Paulinho will not easily forget the big day: First, the Brazilian scored his first Bundesliga goal to settle the 2-0 win against VfL Wolfsburg. After the game, the 19-year-old was named Man of the Match. Moreover: The South American is the first the Bayer 04 player born in 2000 to score in Germany's top flight. On Monday the winger flew out to Gran Canaria for Thursday’s game between the Brazil U23 side and the USA U23s.
Following the regeneration session, Kevin Volland was interviewed by the Bayer 04 TV team. In the fan shop at the BayArena, the 27-year-old talked about the victory against Wolfsburg, the international break – and answered a cheeky question from a fellow player put by video as ever in the interview of the week. Which team-mate that was and how Volland answered the question can be seen on Thursday on YouTube and at bayer04.de.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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