The in part highly intensive tests such of spirogeometry did nothing to spoil the good mood. The first group of Werkself players including Jonathan Tah and Nadiem Amiri arrived at the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehab and training centre at the BayArena, on Monday morning. They all completed a range of medical tests as well as coordination, mobility and stability checks.
Alejandro Grimaldo, Arthur and Gustavo Puerta also came to the BayArena over the course of Monday morning. The new signings were clearly happy and full of determination. The rest of the players including Jeremie Frimpong and young player Noah Mbamba arrived in the afternoon. Robert Andrich was also with the group. The 28-year-old midfielder has been working on his comeback after a metatarsal fracture in his left foot in the Werkstatt for the last couple of weeks.
The players recently on international duty were missing including goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky
Head coach Xabi Alonso will hold his first training session on Tuesday morning. The open session begins at 10.00 CEST.
The sessions on Wednesday (10.00 CEST), Thursday (10.30 CEST) and Friday (10.00 CEST) are also open to fans of the Black and Reds subject to late changes.
It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
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