“Even if it might have been one – I can’t fully understand the red card in a friendly. That ruined the game after 20 minutes. A yellow and a free kick would have been fair. Marcelinho Garcia (the Valencia coach, ed.) saw it the same way,” declared Peter Bosz baffled by the decision of the referee Sven Weschitzki to show Aleksandar Dragovic a red card for a professional foul. “I feel particularly sorry for the spectators that the game was no longer evenly balanced and therefore less exciting,” said the Werkself head coach who had to manage without Lars Bender (muscular problem), Mitchell Weiser (bruised foot), Joel Pohjanpalo (set back after ankle injury) plus Sven Bender and Karim Bellarabi (rested).
Kevin Gameiro opened the scoring for the team that finished fourth in La Liga last term with a penalty on nine minutes after he was brought down in the box by Kerem Demirbay – a debatable decision but the referee turned away the protests from the Werkself. As expected, Valencia provided tough opposition in the last pre-season friendly ahead of next Saturday’s DFB Cup tie in Aachen (15.30 CET, live text commentary and web radio on bayer04.de) and they put the Werkself under pressure with long balls.
After the dismissal of Dragovic (20’), the Bosz team quickly fought their way back into the game and competed on equal terms with the Spanish cup winners and Champions League starters. The reward came on 26 minutes: The Werkself were awarded a penalty for a handball and Kevin Volland tucked the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to make it 1-1.
The pace of the game slowed in the second half in the hot summer weather and neither side looked effective up front. Apart from the goal to make it 2-1 on 57 minutes scored by Valencia’s Gameiro with a long-range effort that beat Lukas Hradecky who did show what he could do on a number of occasions. Peter Bosz made five changes on the hour mark – including the introduction of Nadiem Amiri for his first game for Bayer 04. The fourth summer signing for the Werkself played well but was unable to change the outcome of the game played as part of the Bayer 04 season launch at the BayArena.
Bosz did not make too much of the defeat: “It’s true our friendly results were not satisfactory but I can see a positive development for us. I recognise our improvement and the confidence is there. We now have a week before the Aachen game – we have to make the most of it and continue to work hard,” said Bosz.
Bayer 04: Hradecky – Jedvaj (Retsos 20’; Stanilewicz 86’), Dragovic, Tah, Wendell – Baumgartlinger (Sinkgraven 61’), Demirbay (Aránguiz 61’) – Bailey (Amiri 61’), Havertz, Paulinho (Diaby 61’) – Volland (Alario 61’)
Kicking off the new season with a fresh look: Bayer 04, in collaboration with sportswear manufacturer New Balance, has unveiled the official kit for Leverkusen’s e-Sports players for the coming season. The jersey is now available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
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Paulo Sergio and Bayer 04 have enjoyed close ties since the Werkself training camp in his native Brazil last summer. The club legend is in charge of the Bayer 04 Soccer Academy, which opened in the summer of 2025, and he has also been at this year’s training camp in the Weimarer Land. As well as interacting with the many fans who travelled to the camp, the 1994 World Cup winner used the time to plan the next steps for the Academy together with club officials. In an interview with bayer04.de, Sergio spoke about the project’s future development, the upcoming visit by young Academy players to Leverkusen, and plans for the coming months in Germany and Brazil.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day five (Thursday 6 August) is as follows: The squad have the final open session of the training camp in the morning. After lunch, there will be a team event.
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A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day four (Wednesday 5 August) is all about training. The day begins with a gruelling open training session – new signing Miguel Gutiérrez also takes part. A second session follows in the afternoon, this time behind closed doors.
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At the training camp in the Weimarer Land region, Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez and his long-standing assistant Pol García talk about their first few weeks with the Werkself, their expectations of their own work, the coaching staff and the squad, as well as the style of football they want the team to play. They emphasise the importance of a winning mentality within the team, comment on cultural and personal differences in the world of football, and outline their goals for the coming season...
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