Some 100 fans took up the invitation from Bayer 04 and came to the Hotel Tauern Spa in Zell am See-Kaprun. Meinolf Sprink, director of fans/community, greeted the fans on the terrace of the restaurant. "Welcome! We are very happy that we can finally meet here again and talk to each other after the enforced break due to the coronavirus pandemic," said the 63-year-old.
That was followed by a Q & A session with Simon Rolfes. The honorary captain and current sporting managing director was enthusiastic about the past few days in Salzburger Land: "We not only have great weather but also a fantastic atmosphere – both in the team and with the coaching staff as well as with the fans." The 40-year-old went on to answer questions on the squad and he also provided a brief preview of the forthcoming Champions League campaign.
The players and fans met up for a group photo at the Alois Latini Stadium on Tuesday, and today there was the traditional kickabout between Bayer 04 staff and fans ahead of the meeting with the fans. The Werkself team included Simon Rolfes, honorary captain Stefan Kießling and team liaison manager Hans-Peter Lehnhoff.
All the players were exhausted but clearly happy after two 20-minute halves. "Of course, I'm happy that we were able to win the game again this year," said Rolfes with a wink of the eye when he spoke to the fans later on.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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Bayer 04 face Hamburger SV for the first time in almost eight years. Although the Hanseatic city team are often below par on the road, they are regularly in top form in front of their own fans. In particular, 18-year-old shooting star Luka Vuskovic is proving to be a real bonus for Merlin Polzin's team, both in attack and defence. However, that should not scare the Werkself: Not only was the last defeat against the newly promoted team 17 games ago, but Kasper Hjulmand's players are in with a chance of securing their fifth win in six games against HSV. Today’s matchday news.
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Hamburger SV and Bayer 04 meet again in the Bundesliga for the first time in almost eight years. This Tuesday evening, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET), the promoted team with impressive home form welcome the Werkself to the Volksparkstadion to round off the Hinrunde. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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