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).
Bayer 04 have signed left-back Carolin Simon from champions Bayern Munich for the coming season. The 33-year-old former Germany international, who played for Leverkusen from 2013 to 2016, has signed a contract to 30 June 2028.
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Bayer 04 Women have strengthened for the coming season with the signing of Lobke Loone. The 23-year-old Dutch striker joins from Utrecht on a contract until 30 June 2028.
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The Werkself returned from the near one-month break in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga with a convincing victory at home. Roberto Pätzold's side beat SC Freiburg 4-1 on Sunday afternoon, with goals from Katharina Piljic, Estrella Merino Gonzalez, Cornelia Kramer and Carlotta Wamser ensuring a 13th win of the season at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. The Black and Reds, who are now on 40 points, move up to fourth place at least overnight.
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The fifth consecutive derby win over 1. FC Köln was a hugely significant one in terms of the battle for the UEFA Champions League places. Goalkeeper Janis Blaswich, speaking for the whole team, dedicated the 2-1 victory in the cathedral city to the travelling support: "I'm especially happy about this victory for our fans!" Get the rest of the reaction from those involved and the media, as well as some impressive stats on two-goal hero Patrik Schick and a look at the all-time Bundesliga table, in the Werkself Review.
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