The team under Gerardo Seoane, who takes over as head coach at Bayer 04 on 1 July, will start the pre-season on the Monday with a full day of performance diagnostics at the BayArena. The Werkself players will be split up into groups of three and the day will also include medical diagnostics.
Seoane will hold his first session on the training ground on 6 July. Pre-season friendlies are still being worked on.
Bayer 04 will hold the summer training camp in Salzburger Land for the eighth time. The players and staff will be based at the Hotel Tauern Spa in Kaprun from 16 to 23 July and they will train at the Alois Latini Stadium in Zell am See. With the exception of last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Werkself have visited Salzburger Land every year since 2013.
The first match for Bayer 04 in the 2021/22 season is on the weekend of 6 to 9 August (First Round of the DFB Cup). The first Bundesliga matchday is a week later (13-15 August).
Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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The next footballing highlight is just around the corner: the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 23rd edition of the tournament, will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico and feature 48 teams for the first time. Bayer04.de has all the latest on the Werkself players called up to represent their countries.
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