The FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga has been suspended since the middle of March– since then, the Werkself Women have trained at home and worked in pairs on the pitch for the last two weeks to remain fit for a possible restart of the current campaign. Now the squad has returned to the training round at the beginning of this week – albeit adhering to the strict hygiene rules and coronavirus measures produced by Dr. Karl-Heinrich Dittmar, medical director and pandemics officer at Bayer 04. If the political authorities agree, the women’s top flight will finally return on the last weekend in May.
The Werkself women only have two weeks to get back into a competitive mode. “The first impressions of my team were very good after the long lay-off,” said Feifel in summing up the first day, “but individual sessions and full training are completely different in terms of workloads,” said the 55-year-old. “Many players suffer a drop off in their physiology and physique with breaks like this but others are less affected.”
Up to the possible restart in a week and a half against rivals MSV Duisburg, “we’re now trying to increase intensity as soon as possible so that we can play at a high tempo for 90 minutes and produce a suitable performance. We have to build it up gradually so none of the players get injured,” explained the head coach. In spite of the short time available to prepare, there are no “extra shifts”: “We’re in a completely normal training rhythm,” added Feifel, who has all his players available with the exception of long-term absentees Melissa Friedrich, Pauline Wimmer (both cruciate injuries) and Karoline Heinze (back problems).
Bayer 04 are again strongly represented in this year's Bundesliga Team of the Season from the games manufacturer EA Sports. Five Werkself players have been voted into the top XI for the 2024/25 season, a duo from the Bayer 04 Women's team are in the female Bundesliga TOTS. Bayer 04 were well represented last season with six male players in the top eleven, the most players from one club.
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Show moreA cracker of a semi-final at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The Bayer 04 U19 team entertain Bayern Munich on Saturday, 10 May (kick-off: 11:00 CEST/stadium opens: 10:00 CEST). In front of a home crowd, the team led by head coach Sergi Runge, who welcomes back an attacking player, is looking to build on the battling performances from the previous knockout games and "perform at the right moment." Tickets are available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the game will also be broadcast live on Sky.
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