There were 16 outfield players and three goalkeepers on the training ground. Missing were the four players at the World Cup, Jeremie Frimpong, Exequiel Palacios, Piero Hincapie and Sardar Azmoun plus Patrik Schick who trained on his own. Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Joshua Eze were also sidelined due to muscle problems, Callum Hudson-Odoi was away for private reasons.
The one-hour session in the morning primarily focused on passing drills. That was followed in the afternoon by a second stamina and fitness session at the BayArena with Florian Wirtz and Co. also putting in a decent shift.
Xabi Alonso will be leading his players in the next session on the training ground tomorrow (Saturday 3 December). It starts at 11.00 CET in the shadow of the BayArena. Lukas Hradecky and Co. will then be playing host to a visit: 14 children, in association with UNICEF, will have the opportunity to get hold of autographs and take lots of photos with the Werkself players. The skipper Lukas Hradecky and Joshua Eze will also be at the Löwenclub Christmas party on Sunday 4 December.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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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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