It was frosty and cold on Thursday morning when Heiko Herrlich held the last open training session ahead of Sunday's match against Schalke 04 (25 February, 15.30 CET). Cheering warmth for Bayer 04 not only came from the decent sunshine but also the physical condition of two key players: Wendell was back on the pitch with his team-mates and is in with a chance of being available for the game against the Royal Blues. However, as the Brazilian is not completely free of pain, medical treatment resumed after the training session.
While Wendell and Co. prepare for the next challenge in the league campaign, skipper Lars Bender is working hard on making his comeback from a muscle injury. Together with fitness coach Daniel Jouvin, he worked in a one-to-one session with the ball in the neighbouring Ulrich Haberland Stadium for an hour. The 28-year-old will return to the squad in the next few days but the game on Sunday comes too early for the captain.
The same applies to Jonthan Tah. The central defender is still struggling with a bout of flu. He was able to do some light work in the Performance Center on Thursday but coach Heiko Herrlich is not banking on naming the Werkself number four on the team sheet against Schalke.
The #B04 eSports team made a successful start to the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship finals. Marc and Sean Landwehr defeated the hosts of the event, Hamburger SV, in the Round of 16. The quarter-final in the German club championship will be played on Sunday, 8 March at 14:00 CET against SC Freiburg, who finished top of the table in the league phase.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 3-3 draw at SC Freiburg on Matchday 25 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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Bayer 04 left Freiburg with a point after a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Europa-Park Stadion. Christian Kofane and Alejandro Grimaldo twice cancelled out goals from Vincenzo Grifo and Yuito Suzuki in the first before, before Martin Terrier finally put the Werkself in front early in the second. Matthias Ginter’s late leveller salvaged a draw for the hosts.
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Freiburg’s defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend left them two places but a whole 10 points behind Bayer 04. Their results in general may be mixed, but Julian Schuster’s side are a force to be reckoned with at home, where they have earned 24 of their 33 points. Leverkusen may choose to look for the aerial route if they’re to get the better of their hosts, who have conceded more headed goals than any other team. Here’s all you need to know ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game in our matchday news.
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