Before the first training session at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, head coach Achim Feifel gathered his players together for an in-depth meeting before stepping onto the pitch at 18.30 CEST. The group included goalkeeper Friederike Abt, Julia Pollak, Caroline Siems, Dina Blagojevic, Clara Fröhlich, Irina Pando and Amira Arfaoui. They all signed for Bayer 04 in the summer.
Lisanne Gräwe, ,who joined Bayer 04 from DFB Cup winners VfL Wolfsburg, missed the opening session. The 18-year-old is currently doing her basic training with the Bundeswehr and will join pre-season training in the next few weeks. Also missing were Nina Brüggemann, Jessica Wich, Melissa Friedrich and Ann-Kathrin Vinken. They are all currently in rehab and were only able to watch their teammates on Wednesday evening.
The programme on day one of the five-week pre-season consisted of drills with the ball primarily in enclosed space and finished with shots. The Women's team will undergo obligatory performance tests at the BayArena on Thursday and Friday. The next session on the training ground is planned for Sunday morning.
The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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A rematch in Athens: On Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), the Werkself face Greek double winners Olympiacos for the second time this season at the Karaiskakis Stadium. After the encounter in the league phase, it's now time for the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-offs. Ahead of the game, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how his side will approach the clash, while captain Robert Andrich explained how the team will try to dampen the atmosphere in the stadium tomorrow.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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