The Werkself completed the final pre-match training session at the Grands Stade de Nice in dry weather and temperatures of around ten degrees. Also with the squad are youngsters Emrehan Gedikli and Cem-Tuna Türkmen. The latter has received his first call-up to the first-team squad. Also on the pitch were Nadiem Amiri, Karim Bellarabi and Edmond Tapsoba. All three missed last weekend's 0-0 draw with Hertha Berlin but are now back in the squad under head coach Peter Bosz for the Europa League clash with Nice on Thursday night 3 December (kick-off: 21.00 CET). Bayer04.de provides impressions from the final pre-match training session:
The obligatory pre-match press conference was held before the training session. And the club staff from Nice plus the French journalists were suitably impressed that Peter Bosz and Jonathan Tah replied to the questions from the hosts in French. Jonathan Tah, whose father comes from the Ivory Coast, did not hold back from making the interpreter aware of a slight error in translation. In his usual charming way and not with the verve of a German coach in England – the female interpreter acknowledged the mistake with a smile.
The head coach also communicated in the lingua franca. Peter Bosz played for Sporting Toulon from 1988 to 1991. That city is some 150 kilometres away from Nice and also on the Mediterranean. "I like the Côte d'Azur very much and I really enjoyed my time at Toulon," said Bosz.
Our head coach spelled out the Werkself targets at the press conference. "We want to win again and finish top of our group," said the Dutchman whose team can even afford to lose by less than four goals on the Côte d'Azur and still progress to the knockout rounds. The situation for the hosts is rather different. With just three points to date, there is just an outside chance of progressing to the next round.
"I'll field the best team I can to win this game. We have to work together," said Nice coach Patrick Vieira. Nice are currently eleventh in Ligue 1. In spite of the result (2-6) from the first meeting with the Werkself at the BayArena, the World Cup winner of 1998 was able to draw a couple of positives from his team's performance. "If you look closely at the first game then we were only poor in the final 15 minutes. We just have to play our game."
In addition to his key defender Dante, who used to play for Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach, Vieira is also missing striker Kasper Dolberg. Right-back Youcef Atal is also sidelined.
Maurizio Mariani is in charge of the Europa League game between the side from the south of France and the Werkself. The 38-year-old Italian referees Bayer 04 for the first time although he has already been on the pitch with a Black and Red duo back in November: Mariani was in charge of the Nations League game between Austria and Northern Ireland. Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic were in the starting line-up for the 2-1 win for the Austrians.
The match is being broadcast live on free TV. RTL Nitro start their coverage from the studio in Cologne at 20.15 CET. Presenter Laura Wontorra is the host for the evening with the Roman Weidenfeller filling the role of the pundit. Marco Hagemann and Steffen Freund will commentate the game. The streaming service DAZN is also showing #OGCNB04 live.
Black and Red fans can tune into Werks11 Radio from 20.30 CET. Cedric Pick will start broadcasting 30 minutes before kick-off. Unfortunately, his congenial partner Niko Hartmann is unavailable due to illness. Log on at bayer04.de or via the Bayer 04 app.
From the south of France to the south of Poland: Peter Hyballa, Leverkusen U19 coach from 2014 to 2016, this week took over the helm at the Polish first division club Wisla Kraków. Poland is the sixth country where the 44-year-old has worked as a coach. Up to now, Hyballa has coached in Germany, Namibia, Austria, Slovakia and the Netherlands.
The former Werkself head coach Heiko Herrlich celebrates his 49th birthday on Thursday. The Mannheim-born coach took over from Tayfun Korkut in the summer of 2017 and was in charge for 64 matches up to Christmas 2018. Herrlich can also look back at his days as a player under the Bayer Cross: The centre forward joined Leverkusen from the SC Freiburg U19s in 1989. In his four years at Leverkusen, he played a total of 75 Bundesliga matches (six goals) – and won the DFB Cup with the Black and Reds in 1993.
Herrlich signed for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the same year and he ended his playing career at Borussia Dortmund in 2004. Herrlich is currently the coach at Bundesliga club FC Augsburg. Many happy returns, Heiko.
Dirk Heinen also celebrates his birthday this Thursday – he is 50. Before Heinen was signed up at Bayer 04 by the then youth coach Reiner Calmund, he played for the youth team at Rot-Weiß Köln-Zollstock. The former goalkeeper started his career at Leverkusen with the U19 side. He was finally called up to the first-team squad in 1989 and then became the regular first choice shot-stopper.
Heinen played in goal 107 times for the Werkself and celebrated winning the cup in 1992/93 with the Black and Reds including Heiko Herrlich. The Cologne-born keeper was in goal for the Werkself for 18 years from 1981. Heinen ended his playing career at Armenia Bielefeld in 2008. Bayer 04 wish Dirk a happy birthday.
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.
Show more
Bayer 04 kick off the final phase of their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with a friendly against Premier League club Nottingham Forest. Head coach Carles Martínez’s team will take to the pitch at the City Ground today, Wednesday 12 August (kick-off: 8.45 pm/7.45 pm local time). Werkself-TV will broadcast the match live and in full exclusively for Bayer 04 members via livestream from 8.35 pm...
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Argentina international Facundo Medina. The defender, who can play both at left-back and in a more central position in the back line, has signed a contract with Bayer 04 to 30 June 2031. The 1.84-metre-tall World Cup runner-up, who will wear the number 2 shirt, joins the club from French top-flight side Olympique de Marseille.
Show more
Villa Fiorito, River Plate, Ligue 1, the World Cup final and now Bayer 04: Facundo Medina’s life story so far has been shaped by special places, clubs, matches and names. One of them is Diego Maradona, who, like Medina, hailed from the south of Buenos Aires. Another is Exequiel Palacios, his former team-mate at River Plate, who was raving about Bayer 04 to him as recently as the World Cup in North America. Medina has now taken the plunge into the Bundesliga and, as an Argentine World Cup runner-up, has joined Bayer 04 from Olympique de Marseille this week. It is set to be the next successful chapter in his career. Leverkusen’s new number 2 brings with him a South American mentality and passion, a wealth of experience from many years in Ligue 1, and a fascinating story to the Rhineland – and to a club where the 1.84-metre-tall left-footed player will be reunited with Palacios and several other familiar faces.
Show more
Shortly after signing his contract with Bayer 04, new signing Facundo Medina spoke to Werkself.tv about his first impressions of the club, his expectations and his conversations with his Argentine compatriot Exequiel Palacios. The defender also reveals what the fans can look forward to. Welcome to Leverkusen, Facu!
Show more
