The holidays are over! The Werkself players came to the BayArena on Friday evening to undergo coronavirus tests – everything really gets going on Sunday. All the players first have to undergo the annual performance checks at the beginning of the season. The players will be kept busy for over four hours as they go through twelve different tests covering the areas of medicine, prevention and fitness. The first full training session will be on Monday – albeit without international players who are away with their national teams.
The Thursday edition of the Kicker sports journal included the first part of its half-yearly ranking of German football with four Werkself players in the positions of goalkeeper and central defender. Lukas Hradecky was fifth in the list of Bundesliga goalkeepers. "The Leverkusen player had a good second half of the season but with two crucial blemishes: Both in the league and in the DFB Cup, he made crucial mistakes against FC Bayern," was the reasoning.
Also outside the top four were central defenders Sven Bender in fifth place and Edmond Tapsoba in seventh. Jonathan Tah was also considered. The Kicker on Bender: "Extremely consistent, strong tackling leader also scored important goals. The Leverkusen player just misses out on the international category." On Tapsoba, the magazine writes: "brought in from Guimarães in the winter, Edmond Tapsoba got off to a flying start at Leverkusen with some outstanding performances. Pace, strength in challenges and a remarkable calm on the ball characterise the 21-year-old. The talented youngster from Burkina Faso did have jobs in two big games that he could not initially cope with: in the cup final against Bayern and in the Europa League against Inter Milan."
Two Werkself players have been included in the squad of the season for the UEFA Europa League. The technical observers from UEFA voted for 23 players involved in the Europa League 2019/20 campaign – from Bayer 04 are Jonathan Tah and Kai Havertz. Tah made four appearances in the Europa League last season and Havertz made five. The offensive player scored four goals and provided two assists.
The German Football League (DFL) is continuing to work with the authorities for an early return of spectators this year. The DFL is "ready to take up binding discussions with the relevant political authorities (…). Based on facts, responsible graded solutions should be agreed according to the pandemic situation to allow implementation in November providing the level of infection allows it," was the declaration published on Friday. A summit of federal and state governments announced on Thursday that no spectators would be allowed in professional sport until at least the end of October and large-scale events where contact tracing and the maintenance of hygiene protocols are not possible will be forbidden until at least the end of the year. The DFL sees "no fundamental reason for the denial" of games with spectators in the Bundesliga and second division.
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.
Show more