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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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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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To all Bayer 04 fans: The Fanwelt will be closed all day next Monday 30 June. This is due to preparations for the change of kit supplier from Castore to New Balance on Tuesday 1 July.
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The Norway U23 international Julie Jorde has completed the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Brøndby IF. The twelve-time champions of Denmark have signed the midfielder on permanent terms after her loan move from the Bundesliga to Denmark in the winter.
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It is almost two years since Bayer 04 new signing Abdoulaye Faye first stepped foot into the BayArena as a player for the Swedish club BK Häcken in the opening match in the 2023/24 Europa League campaign. A day before his nineteenth birthday, the central defender did not play in the 4-0 win for the Werkself but it was "an incredible night" for him on 21 September 2023 as he explained in his first interview on bayer04.de. "I watched the players and saw the fans. I liked it." It was also the first European night early on in his career. He only joined the then champions of Sweden in the cold north of Europe from his home in Senegal a few weeks before that special moment. Bayer04.de profiles our new defender.
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Welcome, Abdoulaye Faye. The 20-year-old Senegalese central defender joins Leverkusen from top-flight Swedish club BK Häcken. In his first interview he talks about his move to Bayer 04 and his targets with the Werkself.
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