
Monday and Tuesday involved the obligatory performance tests at the BayArena; the players were tested on the speed court, at the Werkstatt and in the stadium for speed, balance and the capacity of their cardiovascular systems. The first full training session took place on Wednesday evening with familiar and eleven new faces. With the exception of Pauline Wimmer, who successfully underwent the second of two operations on her torn cruciate on Wednesday, and Nicole Banecki, who was absent through illness, Feifel had all his players available for the opening session.
The first challenge comes on Sunday morning, 9 August: In an internal friendly against the Bayer 04 Women's second team, Feifel is looking to get a first impression of his team after the summer break. A week later (16 August), the Werkself Women have another friendly against relegated FC Köln. The Feifel group then have a one-week training camp in the Westerwald from 17 to 23 August before a final friendly ahead of the opening league fixture (Sunday, 6 September, 14.00 CET at SC Freiburg). A visit to the Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven is on the cards. All friendlies are played behind closed doors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Photos from first training session:










Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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