
The absence of the skipper Lars Bender was a purely precautionary move according to Herrlich after his late withdrawal ahead of the Augsburg game – there is no reason to think he will not be fit for the match away to RB Leipzig on Monday night (9 April, 20.30 CET). The 28-year-old trained on his own at the BayArena for that reason.
Herrlich also indicated Jonathan Tah and Joel Pohjanpalo should be ok. The latter has returned to light training after the injury to his right ankle and is expected to rejoin full training in the second half of the week. Tah is very likely to make an earlier return. He was kicked on the thigh near the end of Saturday's game. "The doctors are very positive and he will definitely be fit by Monday. He may even return to training tomorrow," said Herrlich after the training session on Tuesday.
Herrlich and his fellow coaches concentrated on working on the indecision in finishing evident in recent games - shooting was on the agenda. "Of course, the pressure on us has increased after the defeats against Hertha and Köln. We particularly lacked precision in the final third and we were untidy at times. We will continue to work on being more focused," said Herrlich looking forward to the important game in Leipzig that ends matchday 29 with the Werkself keen to pick up three points.


Bayer 04 will round off their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with a friendly against Premier League side Newcastle United. The match against the side featuring German internationals Malik Thiaw and Nick Woltemade will take place on Saturday 15 August (kick-off: 4 pm German time/3 pm local time) at St James’ Park. Werkself-TV will stream the match live in full and free of charge after logging in from 3.50 pm...

After the 2-1 defeat at Premier League club Nottingham Forest the night before, it was straight back to work for the Werkself at midday on Thursday with an intensive training session in hot temperatures at the hosts' training ground.
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The Werkself suffered a first defeat in the current pre-season fixtures. The sixth friendly of the summer ended in 2-1 reverse at Premier League Nottingham Forest. The English side took an early lead (4’) but Patrik Schick levelled just after the half-hour mark (32’). Nothing much happened after that, and the match looked set to end in a draw. However, the hosts managed to score the winning goal late on (90').
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned U19 midfielder Jeremiah Mensah to Dutch second-tier side Roda JC Kerkrade for one year. The 18-year-old Germany youth international has a long-term contract at the club to 2031.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH has taken note of the final, non-binding statement issued by the Bundeskartellamt regarding the 50+1 rule and its application, and will now examine it carefully.
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