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).
Bosnia U19 international Kerim Alajbegovic is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth set-up to Red Bull Salzburg. The talented attacking midfielder has signed a long-term contract with the Austrian club. At the same time, the works club secured a buy-back option for the 17-year-old, who was one of the mainstays of the Leverkusen U19s.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Premier League club Chelsea in the final pre-season friendly. The game against the current holders of the UEFA Conference League is on Friday, 8 August at Stamford Bridge with the kick-off at 20:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to Dutch top-flight club Fortuna Sittard in the third pre-season friendly. The match is on Friday, 1 August at the Fortuna Sittard stadium with the kick-off at 19:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
Show moreThe Werkself are away to VfL Bochum in the second pre-season friendly. The match is on Sunday, 27 July at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion with the kick-off at 18:00 CEST. Read on for the latest information on ticket sales.
Show more