Two of the four flights landed at Alicante airport at eight in the morning and the late comers arrived at the team hotel at 11 o'clock. They were greeted in the lobby by Julian Baumgartlinger, Jonathan Tah and Co. while Aránguiz, Bailey, Alario and Wendell 'only' had their flights to deal with, the rest of the Werkself players had been busy in the hotel gym. The fitness coaches had organised a strength and stabilisation session in the morning. The players worked in the gym in two groups.
While most of the players were given the chance to recover after the gym session, Exequiel Palacios had his first meeting with the media. In an interview with journalists on the terrace of the La Manga Club Resort, with a view of the palms and the bay of La Manga, he patiently answered the numerous questions of the travelling members of the media. The Argentinian revealed his first impressions: "I had a great reception from the team and I'm very happy to be here – in spite of the language barrier. It was a bit much having to try remember all the names on the first day. But I really liked the communal meal and time in the rooms and it was even better in the training session." Further news will be on tomorrow on bayer04.de
The new signing showed what he could do in the first training sessions. And that drew praise from a World Cup winner: "You can see straight away he has very quick speed of execution and good orientation on the pitch," said sporting managing director Rudi Völler about Palacios who is now just known as 'Pala' by his team-mates. "It's good to have top players like that – particularly when you're in three competitions."
In the afternoon, the ball was centre of attention. The focus in the second training session the day, on the pitch at La Manga at 16.00 CET, was on the shooting, challenges and positional play. While Bailey, Alario and Wendell were able to get fully involved after the warm-up, Aránguiz had to drop out as the Chilean was suffering with muscular problems. Karim Bellarabi is doing better today. The 29-year-old was suffering from tonsillitis yesterday but was able to take part in training again today.
The Bender twins know how each other play on the pitch but with 'Who am I?' it was Sven Bender who was barking up the wrong tree. In the new YouTube format, two players have to guess, with the help of ingenious questions, the character defined for each other. The Bender brothers were first up and they can be seen on the Bayer 04 YouTube channel.
Ten years after retiring as a player, Kristina Sundov is returning to the Bayer 04 Women’s team as assistant coach. The 39-year-old former Croatia international takes over from Remzi Kahraman, who has taken up a new challenge abroad. She has been given a contract to 30 June 2028.
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The training pitches at the BayArena are already buzzing with activity again, even before training officially begins next week. On Monday morning, a small group from the Werkself first-team squad completed a session lasting around an hour. Both new and familiar faces were present.
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One ticket, two matches – and a varied programme of events, including appearances by players from the professional teams: Bayer 04 has come up with something very special for the 2026 season launch on Saturday, 8 August. From morning right through to the evening, Werkself fans can use just one ticket to not only enjoy top-class football from the Bayer 04 teams live, but also to experience unforgettable moments with the whole family through a variety of hands-on activities around the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The day will also end on a real high note: after both matches, Bayer 04 supporters will have the opportunity to interact directly with the players during joint activities and get to know them from a different angle.
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Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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