It is exactly five weeks since the Werkself players not called up to their national teams started a well-deserved summer break after the #Bayer04MexicoTour. Today (Saturday) saw Robert Andrich, Kerem Demirbay and Co. return to the BayArena for the annual performance tests. Today's medical checks will be followed on Sunday by the physical part of the testing.
Whether it's in the dressing room, the Mixed Zone or in the Werkstatt: The Werkself players were beaming when they met up with teammates after a break of more than a month. And head coach Gerardo Seoane, plus his assistant coaches Patrick Schnarwiler and Alberto Encinas on site at the BayArena, chatted with the players to gain their first impressions after the summer break.
The kit worn by Karim Bellarabi and Co. is different from last season as the Black and Red shirts bear the name of the new kit supplier Castore.
The Werkself players taking part in the medical section of the performance tests on Saturday included returning loanees Nadiem Amiri (CFC Genoa), Mitchell Weiser (Werder Bremen) and Ayman Azhil (RKC Waalwijk). The international players, who flew out to join their national teams immediately after the #Bayer04MexicoTour, will start the pre-season at a later point in time.
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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There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
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