Lucas Alario, Vladlen Yurchenko, Marlon Frey and Wendell missed the final open session ahead of the Leipzig game. The first three took part in an internal club friendly involving youth teams on the neighbouring Kurt Rieß sports facility and they completed a recovery session at the BayArena on Tuesday. They were joined by Wendell also rested to control his workload. According to the medical section, this will not affect his playing in Monday night's match.
That does not apply to Joel Pohjanpalo. The 23-year-old striker, who received a blow to his right ankle playing for Finland ten days ago, watched the Augsburg game from the stands on Saturday and and is not yet ready to make his comeback. At the start of the week, Heiko Herrlich expressed confidence in his recovery but the head coach announced on Thursday that he would not be available for Monday.
The German Football Association (DFB) has officially recognised Bayer 04 as a centre for the development of female talent for the 2026/27 season. The club was awarded that role on 1 January 2026, and this status has now been renewed.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have sold young defender Andrea Natali to AZ Alkmaar on permanent terms. The 18-year-old Italian was on loan at the Dutch club last season, where he mainly played for the reserve team in the second division.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned new signing Luca Erlein to newly promoted FC Energie Cottbus for the 2026/27 season. This will give him the opportunity to play in Bundesliga 2. The club signed the 19-year-old right-back on a permanent basis last week, on a contract to 30 June 2030.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 3-1 victory in the friendly match at Kickers Offenbach...
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It’s always nice having your best friends round for a birthday! Bayer 04 made a guest appearance at Stadion am Bieberer Berg as part of Offenbacher Kickers’ 125th anniversary celebrations, and nearly 1,500 Werkself supporters accepted the invitation to this historic venue, joining the Offenbach crowd in celebrating the more than 45-year friendship between the clubs. On the pitch, the Werkself secured a 3–1 victory in the friendly against the fourth-tier Regionalliga side. The Leverkusen goals were scored by Christian Kofane (38’), Jonas Hofmann (48’) and Afonso Moreira (81’). Keanu Staude had put the hosts ahead in the first half (11’).
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