The team bus set off early in the morning at 07:30 CEST from the BayArena with 27 women players on board. The destination was Rieden situated 500 kilometres away in one of the most beautiful areas of Bavarian countryside. The Werkself are staying at the Hotel Gut Matheshof this week to work on the key part of the pre-season preparations.
With three weeks to go before the start of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga with the opening match away to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, the team are looking to complete the necessary fine tuning at the training camp. There are six training sessions on the pitch with the addition of two sessions on strength and regeneration work. On Sunday afternoon at 17:00 CEST there was the first ten minute walk from the hotel to the training ground of SV Vilshofen.
There is a real test as the sporting highlight of the training camp on Friday, 22 August (14:00 CEST, Stadion Grüne Au, Hof, live stream on Werkself TV and on the Bayer 04): The Werkself play VfL Wolfsburg in the first pre-season friendly against a rival team in the league.
Youth players also have the chance to show what they can do in Rieden: Angelie Martens, Amelie Sosnik, Jana Lindner and Jolina Heltemes are with the squad in Rieden for their first valuable day-to-day experiences with the senior squad. The following players were unable to travel: Selina Ostermeier and Amy Wrigge (both with muscle injuries), Caroline Kehrer (rehab training after knee injury) plus long-term absentee Shen Menglu (torn cruciate).
Away from the pitch, the idyllic surroundings provide an ideal setting for focused preparation. The Hotel Gut Matheshof is in the countryside surrounded by woods and meadows between Regensburg (55 kilometres) and Nuremberg (85 kilometres). For the Bayer 04 Women these are the best conditions to prepare for the new season in peace and calm.
After the return to Leverkusen on Saturday afternoon there will be the two final weeks of training ahead of the start of the Bundesliga campaign. The last game in preparation for matchday one is a friendly against Belgian club Standard Liège on Saturday, 30 August (16:00 CEST, 3 x 45 minutes, Kurtekotten). The new season starts a week later on Saturday, 6 September (17:45 CEST, live on ARD, MagentaSport and DAZN) with the official opening fixture away to the champions of Germany Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.
Bayer 04 have fond memories of their encounters with Heidenheim, including a resounding 6-0 win in the reverse fixture. Kasper Hjulmand’s side would very much like to produce a similarly clinical display as they now head to the Voith-Arena for Matchday 27 on Saturday (15:30 CET). But they come up against a team fighting for their Bundesliga lives at the bottom of the table, 10 points adrift of safety with time running out. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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The Bayer 04 Women welcome FC Carl Zeiss Jena to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday night in a white retro look - and in a unique Bayer 04 ‘50 Years of Fan Clubs’ special edition jersey. In sporting terms, head coach Roberto Pätzold's team will face the Bundesliga's bottom team at 18:30 CET looking to keep their chances of third place in the table alive with six games left to play.
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Bayer 04 return to Bundesliga action this weekend. Following their elimination in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, the Werkself are away to FC Heidenheim 1846 on Saturday, 21 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET) on Bundesliga matchday 27. Ahead of the clash in the eastern Swabian Alps, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the importance of the fixture and the chances of qualifying for the Champions League next term.
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A quick look at the table shows the situation at FC Heidenheim is serious. The Bundesliga bottom club are already ten points behind the play-off spot with their backs to the wall in sporting terms. With eight games left to play, avoiding relegation appears to be a mission impossible. Nevertheless, they are far from flying the white flag at the Schlossberg ahead of the clash with the Werkself this Saturday, 21 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET). The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without the two strikers in the immediate future. Caroline Kehrer suffered a torn ligament in her right knee and Amy Wrigge tore her cruciate ligament.
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