After a good start to the season with ten points from six games resulting in fifth place in the table, the Werkself Women are looking to continue in that vein at Essen and further secure the position in the top of the table. Essen have not made a good start to the new term. Last season’s cup finalists have only won two games so far with all the other matches ending in defeat.
“Essen have a young team that can play good football, they want to have a go, are dynamic and also try to play on the front foot against good opponents,” said Achim Feifel. SGS went through a period of transition in the summer with twelve players coming and going. Among the departures were the four Germany internationals Marina Hegering, Lea Schüller, Lena Oberdorf and Turid Knaak plus Nina Brüggemann who signed for Leverkusen in the summer after five years playing for Essen. SGS Essen have opted to sign younger players and now have the youngest squad in the league on average.
“Our opponents are difficult to predict,” added Feifel, who is expecting a game on equal terms, “so we primarily want to look after our own game. We have to show our strengths on the pitch as we did against Frankfurt.”
After the double fixture week, the coach allowed his players chance to recover their strength ahead of the last match before the international break. The intensity of the sessions was varied for the players with the heaviest workloads – players who have had less time on the pitch were given more to do. On Thursday, everybody – with the exception of long-term injuries plus Sylwia Matysik (muscular problem) – returned to full training.
Due to the high infection rate in the city of Essen, Sunday’s game will be played behind closed doors. That conforms to the coronavirus prevention order issued by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Less than a year ago, Kerim Alajbegovic moved from the Bayer 04 U19s to Austrian top-flight club FC Red Bull Salzburg. The forward’s development since then has been impressive. In 36 matches, including in the UEFA Europa League, the 18-year-old has scored 14 goals. In the summer, Alajbegovic, now a Bosnia international, will return to Leverkusen - and thus not only achieve the next milestone still early in his career, but also enrich the Werkself squad with his footballing versatility and determination.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with forward Nathan Tella ahead of schedule. The versatile 26-year-old, who can be deployed as a right winger, false nine or left winger, has penned a new contract to 30 June 2031. Tella joined the Werkself from Championship club Southampton in 2023. His previous contract ran to the summer of 2028.
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Nathan Tella has extended his contract with Bayer 04 to 2031. In an interview with Werkself TV, the 26-year-old talks about fulfilling his dreams, his positive outlook on life and his goals for the future. He answers the questions in English - all except the last one, which he addresses directly to the fans...
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In the final international break in the current 2025/26 campaign, Bayer 04 striker Patrik Schick with Czechia will be battling for a place at the World Cup. Meanwhile, national teams that have already qualified, include other Werkself players called up, are involved in friendlies in the build-up to the World Cup. Read on for an overview of the Leverkusen internationals and their match dates.
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The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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