After breakfast and a morning rest, head coach Peter Bosz led his players on a walk along the beach promenade in Tel Aviv in sunshine and temperatures over 20 degrees at lunchtime. Several Werkself players took the opportunity to take snapshots of the Mediterranean and the long beach.
On Thursday evening (kick-off: 18.55 CET) in Petach Tikwa, a few kilometres east of Tel Aviv, Lukas Hradecky and Co. have a Europa League away game at Hapoel Beer Sheva. It is also the first competitive match for the Werkself on Israeli soil.
As usual, Cedric Pick and Niko Hartmann will guide Bayer 04 fans through this encounter with their expertise and passion for the Black and Reds. Werks11 Radio starts broadcasting half an hour before kick-off with the duo reporting live from the BayArena. Log on to bayer04.de from 18.25 CET or via the Bayer 04 app.
The game against Be’er Sheva will also be shown on the streaming service DAZN. Lukas Schönmüller is the commentator and the former second division player Sebastian Kneißl is the pundit.
The Werkself completed their final pre-match training session on Wednesday evening following the press conference with Peter Bosz and Nadiem Amiri at the Ha Moshava Stadium. Bayer04.de brings you images from the floodlit session:
As announced by Chelsea on Wednesday, Kai Havertz has tested positive for coronavirus. The Bayer 04 homegrown talent is currently self-isolating according to the top English club and was therefore unable to play in Wednesday night’s 3-0 home win against Stade Rennes in the Champions League.
Havertz signed for the Premier League club in the summer after ten years at Bayer Leverkusen where, according to sporting managing director Rudi Völler, he developed into a “world class” player. Bayer 04 say: Get well soon, Kai!
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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