Baumgartlinger came onto the pitch 20 minutes after his team-mates to work with the ball for the first time since his knee injury in the DFB Cup game against Pforzheim. "He's making great progress in his recovery. I hope Julian will be available again after the international break," said Heiko Herrlich. Retsos followed after the official training session was over.
The day after the 2-1 victory in the derby in Düsseldorf, head coach Heiko Herrlich sent the starting eleven on a regenerative bike ride along the Dhünn under the eyes of fitness coach Schahriar Bigdeli – accordingly, the training group consisted of just seven outfield players (Lucas Alario, Jakub Bednarczyk, Karim Bellarabi, Julian Brandt, Aleksandar Dragovic, Paulinho and Sam Schreck) plus three goalkeepers (Ramazan Özcan, Thorsten Kirschbaum, Tomasz Kusz).
Only Mitchell Weiser had a lighter session on Thursday. "Mitchell had slight problems with his groin before yesterday's game and they hadn't got better by today," said Herrlich, who is hoping the 24-year-old will be fit for the forthcoming game against Borussia Dortmund and that no more of his players get injured giving the current personnel situation.
Daily changing special offers from the world of Bayer 04: The annual Black and Red week begins on Thursday, 28 November. You can look forward to unique offers and discount on fan merchandise up to and including Saturday, 30 November.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without striker Martin Terrier for the next few games. The Frenchman suffered a broken arm in the Bundesliga match against FC Heidenheim on Saturday (5-2).
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It was a remarkable comeback by the Werkself in the home game against FC Heidenheim. After conceding two early goals, the equaliser came just before half-time. The German double winners showed in the second half "what’s made us so strong over the past 18 months: never give up and always believe in yourself," as one of the goalscorers aptly summed up the game. The Werkself review.
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What a comeback! Bayer 04 recovered from an early two-goal deficit at home to 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 and eventually clinched a deserved 5-2 win. Patrik Schick scored a hat-trick with Exequiel Palacios and Granit Xhaka also on the scoresheet.
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