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.
It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
Show more
Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
Show more
Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
Show more
There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
Show more
Bayer 04 have won each of their last five competitive encounters with 1. FC Köln, and it's around seven years since their last defeat in the cathedral city. That said, the hosts are in strong form at home and will make it anything but easy for the Werkself at the RheinEnergieSTADION on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 15:30 CET). The Matchday News.
Show more
