
In spite of the icy cold, it was clear to see that the young and more experienced players were having fun in the warm-up routine for the four junior teams. Following the obligatory group photo, the U11 squad completed a rondo with Jonathan Tah and Ayman Azhil while the U10 players started with a practice match in restricted space under the guidance of Xabi Alonso's assistant coach Alberto Encinas working in tandem with Zidan Sertdemir.

Werkself skipper Lukas Hradecky, Joshua Eze and goalkeeping coach David Thiel ran the session with the U9 age group while central defender Edmond Tapsoba together with Alonso's assistant coach Sebastian Parrilla worked with the youngest junior players in the U8 squad.
For the Bayer 04 number one Lukas Hradecky, the goal he was protecting on the night was of different dimensions and significantly smaller than usual: The 6 foot 3 Finn wore a green bib in goal for the U9s, the second youngest Werkself team.






Hradecky again and again encouraged the young players during the practice match, giving them tips and advice – and he was full of praise for saves made by his opposite number.
Following the training session watched by numerous parents, the youngsters and senior players finished the evening with pizzas in the dressing rooms at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre. The U8 to U11 players also had the opportunity to put questions to Hradecky, Tah and Co as well as capturing the moment with photos and autographs.




Another group of players from the Werkself squad trained with the U12 to U15 teams last week. Here is the report on the first part of the Werkself visits to Kurtekotten.

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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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-0 win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena on the 21th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Thanks to a masterstroke from Katharina Piljic, the Werkself secured their eleventh win of the season in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. On Sunday evening, coach Roberto Pätzold's team beat FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1-0. Midfielder Piljic scored the winning goal with a volley into the corner from the edge of the box (19’) in front of 633 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium - and ensured that Leverkusen moved up to fifth place in the table for at least one night with 34 points.
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