The Prague trip ended for Peter Bosz in the early hours of Friday morning around 03.30 CET when he arrived back home in his own four walls. After a short night, the Dutchman was at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of the Freiburg game. “We are dealing with the double-fixture weeks well, the lads are fit and fresh. Even though the game against (Slavia) Prague was tiring, we’ll have a fresh team on the pitch on Sunday,” declared Bosz.
Julian Baumgartlinger and Co. will come together for the obligatory regeneration session at Bismarckstraße in the afternoon. It remains to be seen which players will be available to Bosz at Freiburg. He will know more after the Friday training session plus feedback from the physiotherapists.
Only the return of Exequiel Palacios after illness is more or less guaranteed. With Lars Bender (neck problem) “we’ll to wait and see what happens at today’s session,” said the 56-year-old who explained in respect of the injured Charles Aránguiz and Patrik Schick: “I’m not assuming they are an option.”
Bosz can afford to make changes in defence – without a great loss of quality as he emphasised after the 1-0 defeat in Prague. The back four was made up of Wendell, Aleksandar Dragovic, Jonathan Tah and Tin Jedvaj, all players who have not started recently. “All four are training very well and they did a good job yesterday,” said Bosz.
Whoever the head coach includes in the starting line-up: “We’ll approach the match at Freiburg as we always do: We want to win. And we have to show that.”
Match information:
Broadcaster: Sky and Werks11 Radio
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day of the game
Attendance: The match will be played behind closed doors due to the high infection rates in and around Freiburg

Kicking off the new season with a fresh look: Bayer 04, in collaboration with sportswear manufacturer New Balance, has unveiled the official kit for Leverkusen’s e-Sports players for the coming season. The jersey is now available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
Show more
Paulo Sergio and Bayer 04 have enjoyed close ties since the Werkself training camp in his native Brazil last summer. The club legend is in charge of the Bayer 04 Soccer Academy, which opened in the summer of 2025, and he has also been at this year’s training camp in the Weimarer Land. As well as interacting with the many fans who travelled to the camp, the 1994 World Cup winner used the time to plan the next steps for the Academy together with club officials. In an interview with bayer04.de, Sergio spoke about the project’s future development, the upcoming visit by young Academy players to Leverkusen, and plans for the coming months in Germany and Brazil.
Show more
A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day five (Thursday 6 August) is as follows: The squad have the final open session of the training camp in the morning. After lunch, there will be a team event.
Show more
A round-up of the Werkself training camp in the Weimarer Land, all in one place: in our daily blog you’ll find all the insights and updates from the day. Day four (Wednesday 5 August) is all about training. The day begins with a gruelling open training session – new signing Miguel Gutiérrez also takes part. A second session follows in the afternoon, this time behind closed doors.
Show more
At the training camp in the Weimarer Land region, Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez and his long-standing assistant Pol García talk about their first few weeks with the Werkself, their expectations of their own work, the coaching staff and the squad, as well as the style of football they want the team to play. They emphasise the importance of a winning mentality within the team, comment on cultural and personal differences in the world of football, and outline their goals for the coming season...
Show more