
Fernando Carro on...
The 1-1 draw in Munich: A 1-1 draw at Bayern isn’t bad as a rule. But it's actually a pity given the chances we had. Of course, we would have liked to have won. Bayern were dominant but we had the better chances. We go into every game looking to win as a matter of course.
The ambition to retain top national and international talents at the Werkself: We try all we can to keep hold of top young players. Of course, financial factors play a role. But that's also part of being successful in football. If possible, we want to continue to challenge for titles and be in the Champions League over the long term. Then players like that will stay with us.
Florian Wirtz, whose contract at Bayer 04 runs to 2026: I'm counting on Florian Wirtz not just to 2023 but at least to 2024. We will try to keep him for as long as possible. I'm assuming he won't leave before 2024. We've got the European Championships in Germany in that year. He knows he’s a really important player who can always play. And not to forget: He feels really happy here with us.
Play-offs in the Bundesliga: I'm no friend of play-offs. That always used to annoy me in basketball. That system affects games in the regular season from the start.
The intentions of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus in trying to set up a Super League: I think the three clubs made a lot of mistakes. That started with the announcement. Juve boss Andrea Agnelli, as the chair of the ECA, first announces a fundamental reform of the Champions League and a few hours later plans come out on the foundation of the Super League. The way it was done was unacceptable. No German clubs were involved in that project. That shows we were in the right place with our assessment. There must always be qualification through national leagues. The English clubs also withdrew. The opinion of fans across Europe was clear. In short: I don't see any chance of that idea happening in the next few years.
World Cup every two years: Having the World Cup every two years doesn't make any sense to me. I don't think it will happen. Everybody in charge is aware that we can't keep adding to the fixture list non-stop. We also have a responsibility for the players and their health. I get the impression that this perception will gradually take hold. I don't think we'll see the World Cup being played every two years.
War in Ukraine: Every citizen and every Bundesliga club is doing everything possible. There is great solidarity in football and with the citizens in general. Even though it's primarily the politicians who have to find solutions, everybody should have sympathy with the fate of people in Ukraine, help as far as possible and clearly speak out against war and for peace.

Bayer 04 have agreed a loan move for U19s striker Ken Izekor to join Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig on loan for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
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Bayer 04 have agreed a loan deal for Jeanuel Belocian to join fellow Bundesliga club Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season. The 20-year-old defender’s contract in Leverkusen runs until 30 June 2029.
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After Leverkusen's eSports team spectacularly won the first showdown in the history of the VBL Club Championship last year, two rather sobering editions followed with two early exits. Now, in Showdown Four, cousins Marc and Sean Landwehr have once again made it into the offline knockout phase. And in this phase, Bochum awaits on Monday, 2 February (live on the VBL's Twitch channel from 16:00 CET). Here's a look at their opponents and what might happen next.
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SAB-P GmbH is to become Bayer 04 Leverkusen's first official inclusion partner. The company, which has previously been involved in the club's Business Club, is underlining its social commitment to inclusion with an agreement that runs until 31 May 2027. Among other things, it will be the shirt sponsor of the Inclusion Team from the 2026/27 season onwards.
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The Werkself were impressive in the 3-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt with clinical finishing and a first half "at a high level" that head coach Kasper Hjulmand draws a lot of positives from. The same should apply to Arthur, who scored for the first time in the Bundesliga. Edmond Tapsoba, for his part, was happy about his 250th appearance in a Bayer 04 jersey. "I think we're slowly finding our feet again," said goalscorer Malik Tillman, summing up the performance. The Werkself review.
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