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.
From the 2027/28 season, the Women’s Bundesliga will be organised by an independent league association. Following the unanimous decision taken at the DFB Bundestag (national conference) on Friday afternoon, the league’s separation from the DFB is now official.
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Following the Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 20 September, 15:30 CEST), some of the Werkself first team players will be heading off for the first international break of the season. Here is an overview of the Bayer 04 players called up for their national teams and all the details of their upcoming matches.
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A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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In the opening match of the 2026/27 Europa League campaign, the Werkself secured a commanding 2-0 home win against NK Celje from Slovenia. Bayer 04 controlled the game for long spells in the first half and deservedly went in 1-0 up at half-time ahead thanks to an own goal by Celje’s Svit Seslar (15’). After the break, the Black and Reds continued to dictate play – and this time were clinical in front of goal themselves: Facundo Medina converted a corner from Aleix Garcia with a first-time volley to make it 2–0 (74').
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