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

Happy birthday, Patrik Schick! On his special day, it's not just the Czech striker who can look forward to lots of presents and hopefully many more goals – Bayer 04 fans can also get their hands on a free number 14 print when they buy a Werkself jersey today, January 24! In addition, a match-worn jersey belonging to the now 30-year-old will be raffled off among all purchasers next week.
Show more
The Werkself are looking for the first win of the new calendar year: Ahead of the sold-out Bundesliga home match against SV Werder Bremen on Saturday, 24 January (kick-off: 15:30 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about taking chances, possible winter transfers and a “Lion" returning to the Leverkusen matchday squad.
Show more
Werder Bremen play Bayer 04 for the 90th time in the Bundesliga this Saturday, 24 January (kick-off: 15:30 CET). The overall record so far still favours the Green and Whites, who have 28 wins against the Black and Reds (with 25 defeats and 36 draws). The visit to the BayArena marks the start of a crucial busy week for Werder Bremen with clashes against TSG Hoffenheim and Borussia Mönchengladbach to follow. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
A great start to the new eSports year as the Leverkusen professional gamers pick up nine points in the first three of six matches in the online preliminary round of the fourth showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. Between big wins, wonder goals and composed performances, there was plenty on offer against VfB Stuttgart, Hannover 96 and FC Augsburg.
Show more