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Xabi Alonso played at countless stadiums throughout Europe during his playing career. Molde's home ground was not one of them. "It's really beautiful here. The stadium, the sea, the town," said the Spaniard at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening. Of course, the Werkself have not travelled to see the fjords and waterfalls in the most northerly venue in the current Europa League campaign.
Alonso and his team will be looking to build on the 4-0 opening win against Häcken at the Molde Stadium with its capacity of just over 11,000 located on the shore of the fjord. The conditions for the clash with the Norwegian champions are unusual for the Werkself as they will play for the next points in Group H on an artificial pitch. Alonso did not pay much attention to the artificial pitch: "The ball bounces differently and the running is different. But the artificial pitch does not influence our selection. We don't have any concerns about it. For us, it is all about the best tactical decisions."
Like the Werkself head coach, Victor Boniface was on the podium on Wednesday evening to answer questions from Norwegian and German media representatives. The 22-year-old striker played for Bodø/Glimt in Norway’s Eliteserien from 2019 to 2022 where he came up against Molde as an opponent. "I scored my first professional goal in Molde. Therefore the club and the stadium will always be a special memory." The fact the Werkself will be playing on an artificial pitch in Molde is irrelevant for Boniface: "It won't make any difference to us. We've come here to win."
Alonso almost has a full squad to choose from. From the players registered for the Bayer 04 Europa League squad, the only absentees are Arthur and Patrik Schick with the recently sidelined Noah Mbamba back in the squad. The Spanish coach has a lot of quality to select his starting line-up from. But Alonso did not give the journalists an insight into which players he would opt for: "All the players are ready. Making changes is an option." And the choice between Lukas Hradecky and Matej Kovar, who was in goal against Häcken, remained open on Wednesday evening.
For Alonso the matchday is not only special because of the game against the Norwegian champions: The 41-year-old will have been head coach at Bayer 04 exactly a year ago on Thursday. "That milestone means something to me," explained Alonso. "A lot has happened in that time, mostly positive. The record is good and both the team and our game have continued to develop." At the same time, the Spaniard said he "prefers to look forward rather than back. We worked hard for the successful start and deserved it because of that. But now it's important to carry on with the same level of concentration."
There will be support for Bayer 04 at the most northerly venue in this current Europa League campaign: 300 Black and Red fans will support the Werkself at the Molde Stadium.
Tickets are on sale for the last two Bayer 04 Women's team home games in 2025. Fans can now purchase tickets for the matches at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against RB Leipzig and the final fixture of the year in the Rückrunde opener against German champions Bayern Munich. The latest information at a glance.
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Eliminated ahead of the offline round: On Tuesday, 18 November, the Leverkusen console pros played the two remaining matches in the online preliminary round of showdown two. After picking up six points from the first four games last week, the #B04eSports team bagged another three in the two final duels - but it wasn't enough. The Leverkusen team missed out on a place in the offline knockout round, which will take place in this second showdown on 23 November in Frankfurt am Main.
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The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Bayer 04 has presented the groups on the Monheim council with extensively revised proposals for the planned Campus. As part of constructive discussions, the club presented a plan to the CDU, SPD, Greens, FDP, PETO and the Left Party that envisages a one-third reduction in the area of the site on Alfred-Nobel-Strasse. The distance to neighbours will be increased by almost 60 percent. The green corridor will therefore be significantly larger than previously planned. Here are the main changes.
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A disappointing Sunday afternoon in the Hanseatic city: The Bayer 04 Women missed out on a place in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals after a penalty shoot-out at Hamburger SV. After more than 120 minutes of play, coach Roberto Pätzold's team lost 4-2 on penalties to the Bundesliga newcomers in front of 3,993 spectators at the Volksparkstadion. Julia Mickenhagen's brilliant strike to level at 1-1 on 73 minutes was not enough for the Werkself in this tie. The Bayer Leverkusen Women’s team reached quarter-finals in both of the previous two seasons.
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