
Following yesterday’s double matchday, Peter Bosz led the final session at the training camp in La Manga after breakfast. At ten in the morning, the players initially completed a few relaxed runs on the pitch; and the following drills were all aimed at helping recovery. Kerem Demirbay, Nadiem Amiri and Co. did stretches and played a few balls for 30 minutes and then that was it. With the bags packed, it was back to the hotel for lunch before the whole Bayer 04 group boarded the coach for the airport in Murcia. After a three-hour flight, the Werkself landed safely at Cologne/Bonn Airport and travelled on to Leverkusen by coach.
The itinerary for the coming week: there is no training on Sunday or Monday; preparations for the first game in the second half of the season start on Tuesday. Peter Bosz takes his team to SC Paderborn on Sunday 19 January. The kick-off is at 18.00 CET.
The team bus set off from La Manga last night – and was full of luggage. A total of 35 metal containers full of equipment for the training camp were taken away; they contained three sets of kit, three training kits for each player and 90 pairs of football boots. As well as 120 bibs, 15 hurdles, 10 mannequins and numerous cones, poles and markers that were brought to La Manga. Of the original 50 balls, only 40 made it onto the return journey to Germany, revealed kit man Martin Kowatzki. What happened to the missing ten balls is a mystery.
“My assessment of the past few days is very positive. We trained well on a great pitch. I had time to talk to each individual player. It was a very good training camp overall,” head coach Peter Bosz said in a final interview with Bayer 04 TV. However, with a week to go before the start of the second half of the season, the Dutchman believes his players still have room for improvement.
“We shouldn’t have conceded six goals in the friendlies. We need to be better organised. We have to improve overall – and we can do it too! We are sixth in the Bundesliga and we want to move up the table. It’s all about winning games,” Bosz said in a lengthy interview on Bayer 04 TV.

The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme on day one (Sunday 2 August) includes a media round with managing director sport Simon Rolfes, free time for the team after the friendly against Rot-Weiss Essen and before an intensive week of training begins, as well as a coffee get-together where CEO Fernando Carro and Rolfes met around 100 fans in the afternoon.
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This fan meeting got off to a rather unexpected start. On Sunday afternoon, the Bayer 04 managing directors had just welcomed the fans present at the team hotel for the traditional get-together at the training camp when Fernando Carro’s phone rang. The CEO, glancing towards managing director sport Simon Rolfes with a smile, said: “We’ll just have to answer that quickly.” When asked by the fans what the call was actually about, the pair left it open with a wink. Instead, Carro and Rolfes then spent over an hour happily answering the fans’ many other questions.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed Kerim Alajbegovic’s transfer to Italian record champions Juventus. The club brought the 18-year-old attacking player back to Leverkusen this summer via a buy-back option, following a season at Red Bull Salzburg. Until his move to Austria, the Bosnia international had been playing for Bayer 04’s Under-19s.
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A warm welcome to the Weimarer Land, Bayer 04! The Werkself moved into their accommodation for this year’s training camp on Saturday evening. In Blankenhain, Thuringia, head coach Carles Martínez’s team have a programme of gruelling training sessions – several of which will be open to fans – and team-building activities lined up for the next six days. We’ll be following the Werkself up close and providing you with exclusive insights, quotes, photos and videos from the training camp.
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With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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