Baumgartlinger came onto the pitch 20 minutes after his team-mates to work with the ball for the first time since his knee injury in the DFB Cup game against Pforzheim. "He's making great progress in his recovery. I hope Julian will be available again after the international break," said Heiko Herrlich. Retsos followed after the official training session was over.
The day after the 2-1 victory in the derby in Düsseldorf, head coach Heiko Herrlich sent the starting eleven on a regenerative bike ride along the Dhünn under the eyes of fitness coach Schahriar Bigdeli – accordingly, the training group consisted of just seven outfield players (Lucas Alario, Jakub Bednarczyk, Karim Bellarabi, Julian Brandt, Aleksandar Dragovic, Paulinho and Sam Schreck) plus three goalkeepers (Ramazan Özcan, Thorsten Kirschbaum, Tomasz Kusz).
Only Mitchell Weiser had a lighter session on Thursday. "Mitchell had slight problems with his groin before yesterday's game and they hadn't got better by today," said Herrlich, who is hoping the 24-year-old will be fit for the forthcoming game against Borussia Dortmund and that no more of his players get injured giving the current personnel situation.
A cracker of a semi-final at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The Bayer 04 U19 team entertain Bayern Munich on Saturday, 10 May (kick-off: 11:00 CEST/stadium opens: 10:00 CEST). In front of a home crowd, the team led by head coach Sergi Runge, who welcomes back an attacking player, is looking to build on the battling performances from the previous knockout games and "perform at the right moment." Tickets are available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the game will also be broadcast live on Sky.
Show moreBayer 04 have now gone 33 Bundesliga away games in succession without defeat and thereby equalled the record set by Bayern Munich: Jonathan Tah netted the equaliser at 2-2 in added time away to SC Freiburg on his 400th appearance for the Werkself. SCF took a 2-0 lead with a strike from Maximilian Eggestein (44') and a Piero Hincapie own goal (48') before Florian Wirtz pulled a goal back on 82 minutes.
Show moreWerkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-2 draw at SC Freiburg on the 32nd matchday of the Bundesliga 2024/25...
Show moreThe Werkself are away to SC Freiburg on Bundesliga Matchday 32. The penultimate away game of the season is today Sunday, 4 May with a 17:30 CEST kick-off at the Europa Park Stadion. Read on for the latest information in today's matchday news.
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