There is great excitement at Bayer 04 ahead of the last game for the Werkself this season. Given the points parity and the three-goal worse goal difference with fourth placed TSG Hoffenheim (at home to Borussia Dortmund) the last match of the season is not just about three points or three goals but also about three additional letters. To be more exact, it's about the competition Bayer 04 will be playing in next term: Champions League or Europa League. "I think about calculations like that too. But that doesn't achieve anything. We have to concentrate on ourselves – and winning the game against Hannover will be hard enough," said head coach Heiko Herrlich late on Monday afternoon.
As in recent weeks, the boss only involved the substitutes from the Bremen match on the training ground with the starting eleven and team-mates recovering from injury working at the BayArena. One exception was Dominik Kohr. The number 21 was – for at least around 60 minutes – with the two goalkeepers Ramazan Özcan and Niklas Lomb plus Lucas Alario, Karim Bellarabi, Benjamin Henrichs, Marlon Frey, Vladlen Yurchenko and Stefan Kießling in bright sunshine and summer temperatures on the training ground. For Kies it was the start of his last week as a pro before ending his playing career on Saturday against Hannover.
Positive news about Jonathan Tah. The 22-year-old is on the verge of returning to full training this week after his hip injury and Herrlich is confident about a possible appearance against Hannover. The same applies to Leon Bailey and Wendell, who were substituted at Bremen due to muscular problems. The captain Lars Bender and his brother Sven completed individual sessions on the training ground on Monday morning but it remains to be seen whether they will be available for the last game of the season. There is less optimism regarding Joel Pohjanpalo who is still in rehab training following an ankle injury.
The Werkself have two open training sessions this week (Tuesday and Wednesday, each at 10.30 CET) before a closed session on Thursday for final preparations ahead of the Hannover match.
The fourth showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 starts for the Leverkusen eSports team today, Thursday 22 January (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel and on the Bayer 04 app from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Reds will once again compete with six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round in Berlin on 2 February at the fourth showdown. The lowdown on our next three opponents in the online preliminary round.
Show more
The fourth European away trip of the season in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 takes the Werkself to the Greek capital. Head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team are away to Greek double winners Olympiacos on matchday seven in the UCL league phase. The match at the Karaiskakis Stadium is on Tuesday, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET). We'll be taking you on a trip to Athens and reporting on the Werkself close-up...
Show more
A great honour for Bayer 04 Women's German international: as part of the 2025 Sports Awards, Carlotta Wamser entered her name into the City of Leverkusen's Golden Book. On Tuesday, she looked back on a special year in a talk in the Morsbroich Castle hall of mirrors.
Show more
It was a disappointing night in Athens: The Werkself lost 2-0 away to Olympiacos on Matchday 7 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. In a match that was intense and fiery from the outset, the high-pressing home side made the better start and took the lead through Costinha on two minutes. Although the Werkself had a number of chances to equalise, the clinical Greek side increased the lead to 2-0 shortly before half-time (45+1’). In the second half, Leverkusen once again gave their all and showed total commitment but, despite their best efforts, the Black and Reds were unable to break down the Olympiacos defence on the night.
Show more
