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.
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
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Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
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Rieden reloaded: Just like last year, the Bayer 04 Women’s team are spending their summer training camp in this idyllic corner of Bavaria. From this Sunday, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team will be based in Rieden in the Upper Palatinate for a week.
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Following the summer break, most of the players are back in Leverkusen. While two Bayer 04 first-team players are still in action at the World Cup, the players present officially kicked off the new season with fitness assessments. At the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehabilitation and training centre, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba and the rest of the squad worked up quite a sweat in the sweltering summer heat. New signings Afonso Moreira and Kennet Eichhorn also successfully completed the day’s sessions alongside their new team-mates.
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The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
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