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.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Bayer 04 put in a brilliant performance to beat RB Leipzig 4-1 on Bundesliga matchday 32 and are now fourth in a Champions League spot. The Black and Reds took control of the game right from the start and, with 75 per cent possession at one stage, took a 2-0 lead into the break through Patrik Schick (25’) and Nathan Tella (45+1’). The visitors initially tried to do more after the break, but the Werkself remained determined and Schick scored his second goal to increase the lead to 3-0 (76'). The Red Bulls pulled a goal back through Christoph Baumgartner (80'), but the disciplined Leverkusen side were not rattled - and certainly not Schick: The Czechia international crowned a brilliant display with his third goal shortly before the final whistle to make the final score 4-1.
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In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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