The greeting was in Hebrew, the question in English: The Israeli journalists gave Peter Bosz a very warm welcome to his former home in a digital press conference. The Dutchman is well known to the local press from his six months as the coach at Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2016.
“I’m very happy to be here again. It was a great time even though it was so short’” said Bosz. The 56-year-old was the Maccabi coach for two games against Be’er Sheva – both ended in draws (1-1, 0-0). “There’s not many of the players left from back then,” said Bosz.
With Nadiem Amiri, the interest from the journalists from Germany and Israel primarily focused on the high intensity workload for the Werkself players with a run of double-fixture weeks. We’ve delivered after the international break and won everything with the exception of the slip-up in Prague,” said the 24-year-old. During that period there have been four wins and the narrow 1-0 defeat against Slavia Prague. “And that defeat did not not dent our confidence.” Above all else, after last weekend’s 4-2 win against Freiburg, where Amiri scored an impressive goal to make it 3-2, the Werkself “came here with a good feeling. And we want to take all three points.”
Bosz explained the need for rotation during a run of fixtures within a short space of time but did not specify how many or which players this might involve. “The fact is: The best eleven players will be on the pitch to win this game.”

Edmond Tapsoba has signed an early extension to his contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. With two years left on his current deal, the 27-year-old Burkina Faso international has extended his contract until 30 June 2031. The centre-back joined as a young talent from Portuguese top-flight club Vitoria Guimaraes at the start of 2020.
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A special surprise: during the preview for the 'Fierté Burkinabè' documentary about Edmond Tapsoba, Bayer 04 directors Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes announced Tapsoba's contract extension until 2031 together with the centre-back. He then spoke to Werkself-TV about his time in Leverkusen so far and future ambitions...
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This evening was deeply moving: At a really special setting, Bayer 04 exclusively presented the specially produced documentary ‘Fierté Burkinabè’ ("Burkinabe Pride") about Edmond Tapsoba on Tuesday. For the preview at the BayArena, the parents of the Werkself player and other close companions travelled all the way from his African homeland Burkina Faso. The 45-minute film shows Tapsoba's extraordinary career from his beginnings in Ouagadougou to Leverkusen as well as the work of his foundation "Fondation Edmond Tapsoba", with representatives from Burkina Faso also present. Fans can watch the documentary free of charge on Werkself TV and YouTube from Wednesday night at 20:00 CEST.
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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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