Paulinho was on the training ground long before his team-mates in wonderful spring weather conditions. After Kevin Volland, Karim Bellarabi and Co. arrived and had completed the warm-up routine, there was more intensive work with the ball. After just more than an hour, Bosz let the U19 youngsters Herdi Bukusu, Ömer Tokac, Ayman Azhil, Marc Lamti, keeper Marcel Lotka plus U17 player Yannick Schlösser go and he concentrated on working on moves with his players with breaks from time to time to explain tactics.
Dominik Kohr spent the final session working one-on-one on a neighbouring pitch with assistant coach Xaver Zembrod and Sven Bender did not complete the training session either but instead returned to the dressing room a few minutes early. Joel Pohjanpalo, who returned to full training for the first time this week, carried on to the end. The Finn certainly did not take it easy in the session – the 24-year-old clearly enjoyed every challenge.
Panos Retsos, who returned to full training last week, is ready to play in tomorrow's friendly against Ajax if required: "It will be a while before I'm fully fit again but I'm back in full training and perhaps I can play tomorrow." The Greece international has been out injured for a long time but he is now on his way back again – not least thanks to the support of his team-mates over recent months: "It's been a difficult year for me. The team have got behind me and really helped. That was important for me – particularly in getting my head straight."
The Werkself will be able to take a short break after tomorrow's friendly with no more full training sessions before Saturday. The next open session is on Sunday at 10.30 CET.
Since 2023, Bayer 04 has been organising regular free goalkeeping coach training sessions at the BayArena. As in previous years, the event attracted enormous interest in mid-October 2026. Around 140 participants – mostly goalkeeping coaches from the region, but also team and academy coaches as well as association staff – came to the Werkself stadium to gain expert knowledge on the subject of zonal marking. Through a theoretical keynote presentation and a practical session on the pitch, the participants gained insights into goalkeeping and goalkeeper training at Bayer 04.
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The international break produced a full range of emotions for Bayer 04’s women. While four Leverkusen players were in play-off action to try and reach the World Cup, including two important goals, there were others in friendly action. Here’s a round-up of all the results…
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The NB Vintage Collection is here and available now! Members enjoy an exclusive priority purchase period (online shop only). Non-members will then be able to purchase items from Saturday 17 October (10:00 CEST). Sales will also begin at the same time at the Bayer 04 Fanwelt.
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On Matchday 1 of the UEFA Europa League league phase, Lech Poznań suffered a heavy defeat at Crystal Palace. Now the Polish champions will be looking for a more successful outcome in their first home game against the Werkself this Thursday, 15 October (kick-off 18:45 CEST) - and banking on a strong attack. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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