For the start of the week, the Werkself head coach arranged a 50-minute recovery session including passing drills and shooting practice. The players used against Hannover 96 finished the session ten minutes early.
While Lars Bender, who did not travel to Hannover, completed the whole of the training session, Tin Jedvaj was rested for the start of the week. The Croatia international, who played on the left side of defence for the full 90 minutes in the last three games, completed a dedicated session in the gym at the BayArena. Goalkeeper Thorsten Kirschbaum also missed out on training due to a bout of flu.
Joel Pohjanpalo and Sven Bender trained on their own on a neighbouring pitch on Tuesday. The latter is recovering well from the head injury he suffered in the Freiburg game and is set to rejoin full training on Wednesday. Tomorrow's training (10.30 CET) is also the last open session before the home game against Werder Bremen on Sunday (13.30 CET, live text commentary and web radio in German at bayer04.de).
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 3-1 victory in the friendly match at Kickers Offenbach...
Show more
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’).
Show more
