The organisers of the Bayer 04 Football School chose a very special location for the Q&A session with the successful Werkself duo: the dugouts in the BayArena. There, Victor Boniface and Odilon Kossounou answered questions such as who has been their most challenging opponent to date: Boniface chose his former Europa League opponent and current teammate Jonathan Tah, Kossounou the world-class centre-forward Erling Haaland (Manchester City).
Another secret that has now been revealed: the two African internationals' favourite animals are dogs (Boniface) and lions (Kossounou). And when asked about their best friends in the team, both first counted off numerous names, only to then realise that every teammate, without exception, has become a good friend. Boniface and Kossounou rounded things off with some important tips on how to make the step into professional football - Boniface: "Always believe in yourself and work on your strengths and weaknesses every day."
And of course, the children at the Football School also took a look ahead to the EURO 2024 final on Sunday. "Who do you fancy?" The clear answer from the Leverkusen duo: Spain - and therefore also teammate Alejandro Grimaldo.
In the morning, Boniface and Kossounou worked alongside Jonas Hofmann and U19 player Francis Onyeka on the training pitch at the BayArena. After a few rounds of football tennis inside the stadium, they took to the pitch under the guidance of assistant coach Sebastian Parrilla and athletics coach Markus Müller.
There, the quartet completed athletics drills and exercises with the ball at their feet, putting them in the right frame of mind for the start of pre-season on Sunday (performance diagnostics) and Monday (training). They then rounded things off with a "welcome back" selfie.
The majority of the Werkself squad will return for performance diagnostics on Sunday, 14 July, with the first team training session scheduled for the following day. The session in front of the BayArena gates is scheduled to start at 11:00 CEST and is accessible to Bayer 04 fans. Click HERE for the dates of the German double winners' other open training sessions that have already been finalised.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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Bayer 04’s eight opponents in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League have been confirmed. At the draw on Friday 28 August held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Werkself were drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots. There are a total of four home and four away matches. Read on for details of opponents and fixture dates.
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In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-3 loss at SV 07 Elversberg on Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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No points to start the league campaign: Bayer 04 lost 3-2 away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg in the first Bundesliga match of the 2026/27 campaign. Two quick-fire goals from Lukas Petkov (8’) and Cole Campbell (10’) gave the hosts an early lead, before David Mokwa scored the Saarland side’s third shortly after half-time (46’). In the closing stages, the Werkself rallied and staged a late comeback with goals from Patrik Schick (77’) and Christian Kofane (90+1’), but the Black and Reds were denied an equaliser.
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