Before the game, Heiko Herrlich announced he was picking two different sides for the friendlies against Fürth and Münster to give all his players the chance to get time on the pitch. With the exception of second choice keeper Niklas Lomb, the team against the second division club included five U19 players on the bench in Jakub Bednarczyk, Hajdar Shala, Sam Schreck, Güven Yalcin and Atakan Akkaynak. Most of the action on the pitch took place in the Fürth half with Bayer 04 clearly on top – and the opener soon followed. With six minutes on the clock, a shot from Kevin Volland was blocked but Dominik Kohr was on hand to put the ball in the back of the net. After that, the goalscorer and Kai Havertz missed a number of decent chances to extend the lead but the Werkself were not sharp enough in converting those goalscoring opportunities. That failed to impress the coach. In the middle of the first half, Heiko Herrlich's voice was clearly to be heard throughout the Haberland Stadium as he shouted, "Blimey, put the ball in the net!"
Otherwise, the hosts looked impressive in the first outing of the New Year as they were alert in moving back and winning the ball, they passed accurately and patiently through their ranks and were able to up the tempo as required. After the restart, Kevin Volland and Admir Mehmedi missed good chances before Julian Brandt finally doubled the lead from close range on 66 minutes. Volland provided the assist. Mehmedi missed a final great chance to extend the winning margin from a few yards out just before the final whistle. Almost immediately, the visitors from Fürth netted a leveller through Cigerci in the final minute to make the score 2-1 with Bernd Leno unable to save a well-placed shot into the far corner. With the exception of one change - Jakub Bednarczyk replaced skipper Lars Bender with 15 minutes to play - Heiko Herrlich allowed all his players to go the full distance.
Bayer 04: Leno – Tah, S. Bender, Retsos – L. Bender (Bednarczyk 76’), Kohr, Baumgartlinger, Mehmedi – Havertz, Volland, Brandt
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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Following the summer break, most of the players are back in Leverkusen. While two Bayer 04 first-team players are still in action at the World Cup, the players present officially kicked off the new season with fitness assessments. At the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehabilitation and training centre, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba and the rest of the squad worked up quite a sweat in the sweltering summer heat. New signings Afonso Moreira and Kennet Eichhorn also successfully completed the day’s sessions alongside their new team-mates.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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The FIFA World Cup 2026 in the USA, Canada and Mexico is underway. A total of eight Leverkusen players are taking part in the 23rd World Cup, with 48 teams in the tournament for the first time. Bayer04.de brings you all the latest from Werkself players at the World Cup.
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