"The holidays were long enough to recover mentally and physically. I'm looking forward to getting started again," said Baumgartlinger ahead of numerous physical examinations (e.g. blood, eyes) plus balance and mobility tests. Tah and Dragovic, who returns to the Werkself after the end of his loan spell at Leicester City, followed the instructions of the medics, physios, coaches and sport scientists at the Werkstatt. Above all, at the concluding spiroergometry test, performance measurements on the treadmill, the Werkself trio gave their all, which is why Baumgartlinger talked about an "intensive start." After four hours of tests the trio were able to shower. "Nobody really likes these checks and performance tests but they are obviously important. And now we've done it," was Tah's assessment of proceedings.
The three returnees will train with the rest of the squad for the first this summer on Friday (16.00 CET, live on bayer04.de) before Herrlich's players embark on three training sessions on Saturday (10.30 and 16.00 CET) and Sunday (10.30 CET). "The break was longer than normal for us due to the World Cup – now I can hardly wait to play football again, " said Tah.
The first pre-season friendly for the Black and Reds is next Wednesday (18.00 CET) against SV Roßbach/Verscheid.
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.
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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...
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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.
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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.
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