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In response to the question of to what extent Xabi Alonso is aware of the explosive nature of the derby against Köln, the Spanish coach answered without hesitating: "I knew the significance of this match for the team, the club and the fans from the first day."
The 40-year-old, for whom this will be the first clash with FC Köln as head coach at Bayer 04, highlighted the positive that many of his players have plenty of derby experience: "We are expecting an opponent with lots of energy and good support from the fans. It's something special and we need emotional stability for this game."
A win at the Rheinenergie Stadium would see the Werkself build on the 5-0 victory over Union Berlin. "Winning against Union is no good to us if we don't follow up that performance in Cologne," said Alonso. "We were well organised defensively in the second half. We have to build on that and that will lead automatically to a better attacking game."
The Werkself continue to be without the services of Sardar Azmoun and Florian Wirtz, with Alonso saying it is "still too early" for his return. There are question marks over recent absentees Charles Aránguiz (calf) and Patrik Schick (groin).
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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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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 3-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt on Matchday 20 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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