Bayer 04 will have a new home at the Hotel Gut Brandhof for six days of training. The Leverkusen squad will be based at the foot of the imposing Alpine landscape of the Steinernes Meer from 23 to 28 July for intensive training sessions to prepare for the next Bundesliga campaign of 2023/24.
A stones throw from the Brandhof in Saalfelden, Bayer 04 will have exclusive access to a high-quality training ground and beyond that the necessary infrastructure for optimum preparation for the new season.
The Werkself will leave Saalfelden on 28 July to head to Spain for a friendly against Real Sociedad a day later in San Sebastian. Before becoming head coach with the Black and Reds, Xabi Alonso was in charge of the second team at the Basque club. Straight after the match, the Bayer 04 group will leave Northern Spain on the return journey to Leverkusen.
Photo: Hotel Gut Brandlhof
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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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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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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