Karim Bellarabi, who was unable to play to the end of the water fight against FC Nürnberg on Monday night due to muscular problems, is also on the road to recovery. On Wednesday, he trained on his own in the gym but the 28-year-old should be back on the pitch for the closed training session on Thursday. "I expect he will be fit for Saturday," said Heiko Herrlich on Wednesday.
The Werkself coach was less optimistic about Sven Bender who was substituted at half-time due to foot pains. "At the moment, we are leaning towards resting him – we definitely don't want to make a mistake that rules him out over the long term," added Herrlich. If the Werkself number five is sidelined then Aleksandar Dragovic, who played against Ludogorets and FC Nürnberg, is an alternative and Tin Jedvaj can also play in central defence.
The 2025/26 Bundesliga season begins for the Werkself with a home game against Hoffenheim on Saturday. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 1 fixture at the BayArena.
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The Bundesliga is back! Bayer 04 entertain TSG Hoffenheim on Matchday 1 of the 2025/26 season on Saturday, 23 August (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). Ahead of the game, head coach Erik ten Hag talked about the palpable excitement ahead of the league start for the team and himself, as well as providing a squad update and discussing the latest new signings.
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Preseason was pretty much perfect for TSG Hoffenheim. Head coach Christian Ilzer's side won all eight friendlies and didn't put a foot wrong last weekend at Hansa Rostock in the DFB Pokal either. TSG go into the next game against the Werkself at the BayArena on Saturday, 23 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST) with several new faces and plenty of confidence. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Werkself have completed an intensive preseason and made a successful start to the 2025/26 campaign in the DFB Pokal as the new Bundesliga season finally starts this week. And, as in the cup tie in Großaspach (4-0), head coach Erik ten Hag's team can continue to look forward to strong support from the Bayer 04 fans at the BayArena. There is continuing high demand for tickets both for match tickets and season cards. And other stats from the past weeks and months show: the fans are up for Bayer 04!
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