Following yesterday’s double matchday, Peter Bosz led the final session at the training camp in La Manga after breakfast. At ten in the morning, the players initially completed a few relaxed runs on the pitch; and the following drills were all aimed at helping recovery. Kerem Demirbay, Nadiem Amiri and Co. did stretches and played a few balls for 30 minutes and then that was it. With the bags packed, it was back to the hotel for lunch before the whole Bayer 04 group boarded the coach for the airport in Murcia. After a three-hour flight, the Werkself landed safely at Cologne/Bonn Airport and travelled on to Leverkusen by coach.
The itinerary for the coming week: there is no training on Sunday or Monday; preparations for the first game in the second half of the season start on Tuesday. Peter Bosz takes his team to SC Paderborn on Sunday 19 January. The kick-off is at 18.00 CET.
The team bus set off from La Manga last night – and was full of luggage. A total of 35 metal containers full of equipment for the training camp were taken away; they contained three sets of kit, three training kits for each player and 90 pairs of football boots. As well as 120 bibs, 15 hurdles, 10 mannequins and numerous cones, poles and markers that were brought to La Manga. Of the original 50 balls, only 40 made it onto the return journey to Germany, revealed kit man Martin Kowatzki. What happened to the missing ten balls is a mystery.
“My assessment of the past few days is very positive. We trained well on a great pitch. I had time to talk to each individual player. It was a very good training camp overall,” head coach Peter Bosz said in a final interview with Bayer 04 TV. However, with a week to go before the start of the second half of the season, the Dutchman believes his players still have room for improvement.
“We shouldn’t have conceded six goals in the friendlies. We need to be better organised. We have to improve overall – and we can do it too! We are sixth in the Bundesliga and we want to move up the table. It’s all about winning games,” Bosz said in a lengthy interview on Bayer 04 TV.
The team departs for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Monday for the Bayer 04 Brazil Tour 2025 from July 14-24. The preseason journey marks a change from recent training camps in the Austrian Alps and Black Forest and we caught up with CEO Fernando Carro to ask him about this summer's visit to Brazil.
Show moreMalik Tillman and the USA could not quite achieve the hoped-for big win in their own country. Last Monday’s final in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in Houston ended up in a 2-1 defeat for the hosts against Mexico. But the Bayer 04 new signing can be very happy with the course of the tournament and his own performances. Tillman was in the starting line-up for all six games. That concluded an impressive season for him after winning the Eredivisie title in the Netherlands with PSV Eindhoven. Bayer04.de profiles the 23-year-old new signing.
Show moreBayer 04 Leverkusen have signed the USA international Malik Tillman. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder joins the Werkself from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven. Tillman, with German roots and born in Nuremberg, has a contract at Leverkusen to 30 June 2030. He scored 16 goals and provided five assists in 34 games for PSV last season. Three of those goals and two assists were in six matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Show moreThe second friendly and the first goal for the Bayer 04 Women: The Werkself just missed out on their first win in the preseason away to top-flight Dutch side PEC Zwolle. The team led by coach Roberto Pätzold drew 1-1 on Friday afternoon in Wezep. As with the friendly against TSG Hoffenheim (0-2) a number of first-team players were absent. The coach once again shared out time on the pitch for the 20-player squad. The goal of the match was scored by summer signing Vanessa Fudalla (67').
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