As it stands, Heiko Herrlich is likely to be without six of his players for the opening game of the season in the DFB Cup Round One tie away to CfR Pforzheim on Saturday (18 August, 15.30 CET). In addition to long-term absentees Lukas Hradecky (rehab training), Joel Pohjanpalo (ankle), Panos Retsos (thigh) and Charles Aránguiz (Achilles), Karim Bellarabi and Leon Bailey our definitely unavailable for the first competitive match of the new season away to the Baden-Württemberg Oberliga side as Herrlich announced after today’s training session.
Bellarabi (after twisting his knee at the training camp in Austria), who put in extra shifts in working hard to make his comeback, including completing the full session this afternoon, is “definitely not in with a chance for Saturday,” said Herrlich with one eye on the Bundesliga opener in Mönchengladbach (25 August) wishing to take no risks from a medical perspective. The chances are equally slim for Leon Bailey who only returned to full training yesterday after suffering a shoulder injury in the friendly against Basaksehir. However, the 21-year-old Jamaican was unable to train with the squad today due to “slight cold symptoms” – according to Herrlich that means Bailey faces more relaxed training regime over the next few days.
At today’s open training session, Bayer 04 fans waited in vain to see Lucas Alario and Paulinho plus Lars and Sven Bender. While the two South Americans were rested from today’s training sessions following slight knocks yesterday, the Bender twins were put through a recovery session by the coaching staff – all four completed individual routines in the gym at the BayArena.
Their outfield team-mates faced a 70-minute session in mild temperatures in Leverkusen again with recovery the foremost option. Herrlich and Co. organised a partnered move with different finishing rules from crosses. Here – under the eyes of Patrick Helmes (pictured above second right ), who is at Bayer 04 as part of his training to be a coach – the Austro- Croatian duo of Aleksandar Dragovic and Tin Jedvaj proved to be the most accurate finishers.
Tomorrow’s Thursday morning session (10.30 CET) is the final open training ahead of the game against Pforzheim with the Werkself making final preparations behind closed doors on Friday.
The Bayer 04 Women have secured three points on the road after four games without a win. Thanks to an impressive second-half performance and two set-piece goals, the team led by coach Roberto Pätzold sealed a 2-0 win away to newcomers FC Carl Zeiss Jena. With goals from Cornelia Kramer (54') and Lilla Turanyi (73') the Werkself have equalled their previous points record from the 2020/21 season with 33 points after 16 games this term.
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The Werkself host Bayern Munich in the Round of 16 second leg in the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 in front of a full house at the BayArena (first leg 0-3). Today's match on Tuesday, 11 March, kicks off at 21:00 CET and is broadcast live on Prime Video as well as on Werkself Radio. Matchday news brings you the latest news on the game.
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Bayer 04 are away to Arminia Bielefeld in the semi-finals of the 2024/25 DFB Pokal. The cup tie is at the SchücoArena on Tuesday, 1 April (kick-off: 20:45 CEST). Read on for information on ticket sales.
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The Werkself host Bayern Munich at the BayArena in the second leg of the 2024/25 Champions League Round of 16 tomorrow, Tuesday 11 March (kick-off: 21:00 CET and live on Prime Video). Ahead of the all-German clash, head coach Xabi Alonso and defender Jonathan Tah talked about belief in going through and recall previous miracles.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without Florian Wirtz. The Germany international suffered a ligament injury in his right ankle in the home game against Werder Bremen (0-2) on Saturday. That was the diagnosis from an MRI scan following the game. The 21-year-old midfielder will be out of action for several weeks.
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