The Black and Reds – with the exception of the international players – have time until Sunday to enjoy the summer break at their leisure before head coach Peter Bosz welcomes his charges back on Monday at 14.30 CET (open training session). A trio can hardly wait to get going again. "I'm really looking forward to Monday. I think everybody can imagine how it feels to start the new season fully fit after 13 months out injured," said Joel Pohjanpalo, who like Karim Bellarabi, has been putting in special shifts since the start of the week in Leverkusen. "I want to get ahead for the new season especially after this long injury lay-off. And I'd like to be sure that I'm in best shape and fully fit when we start with the full training sessions," said the 24-year-old striker who suffered severe problems in his right ankle shortly after the start of the last pre-season. "Since the start of June, I’ve been certain that everything is fine with my foot – I don't have any problems at all now," added Pohjanpalo.
While the Finn, together with keeper Niklas Lomb, took part in passing drills and finishing, Bellarabi worked with the ball in a one-on-one session with rehab coach Hans-Jörg Schneider and he visibly enjoyed it. The 28-year-old suffered a muscle and tendon injury at the end of March in the game against Hoffenheim that finished his season. Goalkeeper Niklas Lomb rejoins the goalkeeping team for the new campaign after a 12-month loan period at second division SC Sandhausen.
After Jens Nowotny was officially named a Bayer 04 honorary captain last weekend, the long-standing Werkself player is part of the Leverkusen delegation on the trophy tour to New York City next week from 11 to 14 September. In an interview with bayer04.de, the 50-year-old talked about his expectations ahead of the trip to the metropolis on the East Coast of the USA.
Show moreThe German Football League (DFL) has confirmed the dates and kick-off times for matchdays 6 to 12 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Full details of the Bayer 04 fixtures.
Show moreMarkus Rehm, a long jumper at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, won the gold medal for the fourth time in succession at the Paralympics on Wednesday.
Show moreThe fixture details for the second round of the DFB Pokal 2024/25 have been confirmed. The home tie for Bayer 04 against second division SV 07 Elversberg is on Tuesday, 29 October with the kick off at 18.00 CET (live on Sky). That was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday.
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