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.”

Ten years after retiring as a player, Kristina Sundov is returning to the Bayer 04 Women’s team as assistant coach. The 39-year-old former Croatia international takes over from Remzi Kahraman, who has taken up a new challenge abroad. She has been given a contract to 30 June 2028.
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The training pitches at the BayArena are already buzzing with activity again, even before training officially begins next week. On Monday morning, a small group from the Werkself first-team squad completed a session lasting around an hour. Both new and familiar faces were present.
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One ticket, two matches – and a varied programme of events, including appearances by players from the professional teams: Bayer 04 has come up with something very special for the 2026 season launch on Saturday, 8 August. From morning right through to the evening, Werkself fans can use just one ticket to not only enjoy top-class football from the Bayer 04 teams live, but also to experience unforgettable moments with the whole family through a variety of hands-on activities around the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The day will also end on a real high note: after both matches, Bayer 04 supporters will have the opportunity to interact directly with the players during joint activities and get to know them from a different angle.
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Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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