
Sven Bender took a knock to his right ankle in a challenge after an hour of the training session. He received treatment on the pitch before being taken to the dressing room by the physios. According to the medics, the 29-year-old central defender has not suffered a serious injury. And Heiko Herrlich is hopeful his number five will be available for Saturday. The keeper Thorsten Kirschbaum also had to drop out after 30 minutes due to a thigh problem.
Lars Bender and Kai Havertz did not train on Wednesday. The captain took a tumble in yesterday's afternoon session and today worked on his own in the gym at the BayArena. The same goes for the youngster Havertz who was rested by the coaching staff as a precaution. "Kai is only 19, he took part in all the sessions in the pre-season and he has played a lot of football recently – it is part of my responsibilities to him to make sure he is not exposed to extreme workloads like yesterday's training by resting him from time to time so we don't overextend him," said Herrlich before adding: "Theoretically, he could have completed the whole session today." The situation with Lars Bender is more involved but the Werkself head coach did emphasize he is including the number eight in his plans for the Gladbach game on Saturday as things stand.
There is optimism regarding Charles Aránguiz – particularly after the blow of losing Julian Baumgartlinger due to a knee ligament injury. "Charly is looking really good and he's improving in leaps and bounds at the moment," declared Herrlich in describing the condition of the 29-year-old Chilean who has been less involved over recent weeks due to knee problems. It appears unlikely that Aránguiz will feature on Saturday.
In spite of the many injuries and knocks, Herrlich is relaxed ahead of the start of the league campaign. "We still have an incredible number of outstanding players and quality on the pitch. I'm sure we can compensate for the absentees," said Herrlich, who has organised two further training sessions ahead of the opening league fixture – both behind closed doors.


Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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A rematch in Athens: On Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), the Werkself face Greek double winners Olympiacos for the second time this season at the Karaiskakis Stadium. After the encounter in the league phase, it's now time for the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-offs. Ahead of the game, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how his side will approach the clash, while captain Robert Andrich explained how the team will try to dampen the atmosphere in the stadium tomorrow.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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