The new head coach gained important first impressions of his new team during the first session. "It's good I've got a couple of days before the next game," said Korkut: "I want to use them to get a feeling for the team." The second session held on Tuesday afternoon was behind closed doors.
Krösche and Wolf leave Bayer 04
The new boss was accompanied by his assistant Xaver Zembrod who was his number two at Hannover 96 and FC Kaiserslautern. The 50-year-old joined the coaching staff on Monday. Bayer 04 have parted company with Roger Schmidt as well as his assistant coach Markus Krösche and Jörn Wolf, the coordinator of the coaching and support staff.
Bellarabi shirt for the football museum
The next training session at the BayArena is on Wednesday (10.00 CET) and is open to the public. In the afternoon, CEO Michael Schade will present the shirt worn by Karim Bellarabi, when he scored the 50,000th goal in the history of the Bundesliga, to the German Football Museum in Dortmund.
Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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Bayer 04 start the 2026/27 season away to third-division side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Ahead of the DFB Pokal tie on Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez spoke at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The topics: anticipation, passion, the fans’ support – and the captaincy for the new season.
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After 62 days of preparation, the time has finally come: the Werkself kick off the new Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga season on Sunday (16:00 CEST) with an away match at RB Leipzig. Following a major shake-up over the summer, with eleven players leaving and twelve new signings, initial impressions from the past few weeks have given manager Roberto Pätzold great cause for optimism.
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SV Wehen Wiesbaden undoubtedly envisaged a different start to the new season. After two matchdays, the Hessen side currently sit bottom of the Liga 3 table. On Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), SVWW host the Werkself in the first round of the DFB Pokal at their home ground, the BRITA Arena. It was there, in this very competition a year ago, that the club almost pulled off a massive upset. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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