"It will be a brilliant game of football!" said Robert Andrich following training at the BayArena with just the right words for the forthcoming league challenge. The 28-year-old and his Werkself teammates are away to Bayern Munich on Friday 15 September (kick-off: 20.30 CEST). The first game on Bundesliga matchday four is also the meeting of top of the table Bayer 04 and the level on points pursuers from Munich. "But you shouldn't read too much into the situation in the table so early in the season," said Andrich.
The midfield dynamo and his teammates including Jeremie Frimpong, Nathan Tella and Alejandro Grimaldo worked on different moves in tight spaces and also putt in plenty of shooting practice in temperatures of 30 degrees. Nine players from the U19 and U17 squads took part. In the middle of the session, Patrik Schick entered the training pitch together with Carsten Rademacher (head of rehab therapy). "Everything is good" declared the striker addressing the members of the media present – with a smile and a thumbs up. The Czechia international is continuing to work on his comeback every day and he is making good progress.
Piero Hincapie is again an important part of the training group this week. The versatile defender completed the whole session with the team for the first time on Monday following his rehab afterr a metatarsal injury. "It's important for Piero to be fully involved again," declared Xabi Alonso following the training session. "The plan is for him to train normally for the whole week. And then we'll see if he'll be ready for Friday. Up to now he hasn't had any pain after the training sessions and that's the most important thing."
The 15 players away on international duty are set to return to Leverkusen in the middle of the week and then join in preparations for the clash in Munich. Robert Andrich hopes all his teammates come back fit and healthy. Because, after the international break, he wants to join with them against the record champions in "building on the impressive and mainly dominant performances in recent matches."
Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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