
The 2-0 defeat at home to Hertha Berlin is done and dusted. After a two-day break from training, head coach Heiko Herrlich held a double session for his players on Tuesday – the Werkself were greeted by cool temperatures and sunshine in both the morning and afternoon work-outs.
In addition to the skipper Lars Bender, who faces three weeks on the sidelines after suffering a muscle injury in the Cup game against Werder Bremen, Marlon Frey was also absent on Tuesday. The 21-year-old midfielder has has a thyroid problem that requires further investigation.
The afternoon session saw 14 outfield players take part – Dominik Kohr, Jonathan Tah and Sven Bender had individual sessions in the Werkstatt.
Ahead of Saturday's clash with HSV, Herrlich and his players have an open session tomorrow. It is set to start at 10.30 CET, Bayer 04 TV will provide a live stream from the training ground from 11.15 CET (on Facebook). The training sessions on Thursday and Friday will be held behind closed doors.

Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Sustainability once again had many faces at Bayer 04 in 2025: In community activity, the club supported countless regional campaigns, including the Leverkusener Tafel, the Frauenennotruf Leverkusen e.V. and the homeless aid organisation "Kältegang". But the Black and Reds have also been involved in good causes around the world - including the Young Coaches training programmes in Uganda and Ecuador plus the Genuine World Cup in the USA, where the Inclusion Werkself competed. Bayer 04 was also fully committed to the environment and underwent external and independently certification in accordance with the European environmental management standard EMAS, for example, to analyse and optimise the club’s environmental efforts. Looking back at sustainability in 2025.
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Two Saturdays, one Friday and one Sunday: The dates for the Bayer 04 Women's team games on matchdays 16 to 19 have been finalised. Three of the four matches scheduled by the German Football Association (DFB) on Tuesday will be played at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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Bayer 04 currently have a number of promising young talents on loan to various clubs in Europe with the aim of gaining match practice and furthering their individual development. Francis Onyeka and Farid Alfa-Ruprecht, for example, play for VfL Bochum 1848, while Artem Stepanov is a striker with 1. FC Nürnberg, coached by World Cup winner Miroslav Klose. Tim Oermann is a defender in the Austrian Bundesliga at top club SK Sturm Graz and Abdoulaye Faye is playing in France for FC Lorient, promoted to Ligue 1 this season. Bayer04.de reviews the first six months for the Leverkusen players out on loan.
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