The Werkself players felt the after-effects of the Porto home match on Friday morning. "We talked about the game this morning and now we have to work on it," said Bosz who had the starting eleven complete a relaxed recovery session. "We did a bit more with the others but not too much because we have an important Bundesliga game against Augsburg in a couple of days," explained the 56-year-old head coach at the press conference.
Karim Bellarabi returned to full training after recovering from a cold and is an option for Sunday. Moussa Diaby also returned in time from Paris to complete the morning training session after he yesterday paid a flying visit to his heavily pregnant partner. The Diaby baby is letting people wait and the 20-year-old is on standby up into including the Augsburg game. Kevin Volland, who had to limp off in added time after a challenge in last night's game against Porto, underwent an MRI scan but no serious injury was revealed. "We'll have to wait and see about the pain and whether this weekend is an option," said Bosz.
The head coach refused to reveal if he intends to rotate his side for the game against FC Augsburg, who have yet to beat the Werkself in Germany's top flight: "All the players available to us are an option. We can play with different systems and the variations depend on availability and opponents. We are definitely prepared for different scenarios that will arise against Augsburg."
Match information:
Attendance: 23,500; tickets available on the matchday from 13.30 CET
TV broadcaster: Sky
Referee: Sven Jablonski (Bremen)
Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
Show more
Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
Show more
Bayer 04 start the 2026/27 season away to third-division side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Ahead of the DFB Pokal tie on Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez spoke at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon. The topics: anticipation, passion, the fans’ support – and the captaincy for the new season.
Show more
SV Wehen Wiesbaden undoubtedly envisaged a different start to the new season. After two matchdays, the Hessen side currently sit bottom of the Liga 3 table. On Saturday 22 August (kick-off: 13:00 CEST), SVWW host the Werkself in the first round of the DFB Pokal at their home ground, the BRITA Arena. It was there, in this very competition a year ago, that the club almost pulled off a massive upset. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
Farid Alfa-Ruprecht is going out on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Bundesliga 2 side Hertha Berlin. The pacy winger will be at the Berlin club for one year.
Show more
