It's almost six months since Melissa Friedrich last had the ball at her feet in training. Shortly after her first goal of the season in the 2-1 win at 1. FC Nürnberg, a torn ligament in her ankle brought her to a sudden halt. On Saturday, the sixth day of the training camp, the centre-back finally trained with the team again, having returned to the pitch last week. Together with the team in Sosnowitz, she took part in interval training and various five-v-five drills, among other things in the morning.
"It's a really nice feeling to finally be back with the team and be able to make tackles," said Friedrich. "That's what you play football for. The first session with the team was really special for me. Now we'll see how things progress from day to day, so that I can hopefully be fully involved soon."
In the afternoon session, there were transitional play, heading and lots of shooting drills on the programme for her team-mates. In considerably milder temperatures than the previous days, the Leverkusen girls completed their seventh session in total since arriving last Monday. Friedrich, meanwhile, ran some laps of the pitch to manage her workload.
Kristin Kögel, Sofia Cava Marin and Selina Ostermeier sat out with knocks. Charlotte Voll, who joined up with the squad on Thursday, trained with fellow keepers Friederike Repohl, Anne Moll and Louisa Remien led by goalkeeping coach Patrick Bade, but still didn't join in with any goalkeeper-specific exercises following her shoulder operation.
The day ended with the traditional initiation songs for the new players. At a team evening, Vanessa Haim, Shen Menglu, Caroline Kehrer, Cornelia Kramer, Katharina Piljić and Juliette Vidal as well as Ida Daedelow, who recently signed her first professional contract, had to sing a song of their choice, cheered on by their team-mates.
On Sunday and Monday, there's one session each on the pitch for the Werkself, as well as a yogo class and a wakeboard team activity in Sosnowitz. The Bayer 04 party then travel home on Monday afternoon, where they'll get back into the rhythm of playing of every week with three friendlies against international opponents: at RSC Anderlecht on 11 August (kick-off 14:00 CEST), at Standard Liège on 17 August (14:30 CEST) and against Fortuna Sittard on 23 August (14:00 CEST).
The new Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga season kicks off on 31 August (14:00 CEST) with the game at SC Freiburg, followed a week later by the second round of the DFB Cup. The full summer schedule and key dates for the women's team can be found HERE.
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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