Bayer 04 will definitely be without the ever-present Wendell: The 24-year-old Brazilian has played in all fourteen competitive matches of the season so far and, with the exception of goalkeeper Bernd Leno, has played the most minutes for the Werkself. In the 2-2 draw against RB Leipzig, the full-back picked up a fifth yellow card and will now serve a one-match ban; as will Benny Henrichs after his red card. That means both will be missing from the defensive line-up against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Sven Bender, still suffering pain from a double rib fracture in the game against Augsburg, completed three out of four training sessions this week with the Tuesday afternoon spent working on his own at the BayArena. There will be a late fitness test on the 28-year-old ahead of the game against the team in seventh place. "I'm getting better. But we have to see day by day whether it's enough for Saturday," said Bender.
Panos Retsos is also hopeful. After the Greek broke off training on Monday after feeling unwell, the medical advice following an examination was to rest in bed but the 19-year-old defensive all-rounder was back in full training with his team-mates on Wednesday morning. "I feel much better and I think I'll be one hundred per cent fit for Saturday. the decision is down to the coach," declared Retsos knowing that Heiko Herrlich has two other defenders as options in André Ramalho and Tin Jedvaj.
Vladlen Yurchenko was the only one missing from the training ground on Wednesday. The Ukrainian midfielder suffered a bruised foot in training on Monday and has trained on his own for the past two days.
Herrlich will be working with his team behind closed doors for the next two days to fine tune his side for the match against Eintracht. Following the final pre-match training session, the Werkself squad will head for the team hotel in Frankfurt early on Friday evening.
A week after the disappointing DFB Pokal exit at Hamburger SV, the Bayer 04 Women return to league action. In a home match against SGS Essen on Saturday, 22 November (kick-off: 14:00 CET at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium), coach Roberto Pätzold's team will be fighting to maintain a good position in the chasing pack in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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Tickets are on sale for the last two Bayer 04 Women's team home games in 2025. Fans can now purchase tickets for the matches at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against RB Leipzig and the final fixture of the year in the Rückrunde opener against German champions Bayern Munich. The latest information at a glance.
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Eliminated ahead of the offline round: On Tuesday, 18 November, the Leverkusen console pros played the two remaining matches in the online preliminary round of showdown two. After picking up six points from the first four games last week, the #B04eSports team bagged another three in the two final duels - but it wasn't enough. The Leverkusen team missed out on a place in the offline knockout round, which will take place in this second showdown on 23 November in Frankfurt am Main.
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Several Bayer 04 players are currently away with their respective national teams in the final international break of 2025, with most of them involved in qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Our blog will keep you up to date on the matches involving the Werkself.
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The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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