"Gerardo Seoane has done good work for Bayer 04 over the past one and a half years, above all with the outstanding qualification for the Champions League," said sporting managing director Simon Rolfes. "Unfortunately, we have left the path of success. The early exit from the DFB Cup but in particular the current position in the Bundesliga, which does not meet our expectations, has compelled us to change coaches," explained Rolfes the day after 2-0 defeat for the Werkself in the Champions League at Portuguese champions Porto. Seoane's assistant coach Patrick Schnarwiler is also leaving Bayer 04.
Fernando Carro, as the Bayer 04 CEO, emphasised the complexity of the decision: "Gerardo Seoane has enjoyed very high appreciation throughout the club both as a coach and as a person. It was not easy to part company. But we see no other possibility in the current situation.”
Xabi Alonso is the new head coach at Bayer 04. The Spain international with 114 caps won the UEFA Champions League as a player with Liverpool in 2005 and with Real Madrid in 2014 and he also won the German league title three times as a driving force with Bayern Munich from 2015 to 2017. The former midfielder won the European Championships with Spain in 2008 and 2012 and the World Cup in 2010. Alonso will have his assistant coach Sebastian Parrilla alongside him at Bayer 04.
"In Xabi Alonso we have brought in a coach who was an absolute world-class player for many years, an intelligent strategist and extremely successful at three of the most demanding European leagues," said Rolfes on the signing of the former top star. Alonso has been working as a coach with the second team of the top-flight Spanish club Real Sociedad for the last three years and before that he worked with the youth teams at Real Madrid.
"I know Leverkusen as an outstanding club from my time in Germany. Bayer 04 always had great players and I see a lot of quality in the current squad," said Alonso. "In my discussions with the club it quickly became clear that ambitious targets are still the aim in spite of the current difficult situation. This job really attracts me and I'm sure we can live up to expectations."
Bayer 04 aren’t just the new champions of Germany but are also leading the way in engaging young fans after becoming the first Bundesliga club to release its own Pixi children’s book. Captain Lukas Hradecky and Josip Stanisic presented the 24-page publication entitled ‘Ein neuer Löwe für die Werkself’ (A new lion for the Werkself) at a reading for children in the BayArena's Schwadbud.
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Bayer 04 visit Italian club AS Roma in the first leg of the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League semi-finals. The match takes place on Thursday 2 May (kick-off 21:00 CEST) at the Stadio Olimpico. Information on ticket sales.
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Two individual awards, a milestone in Leipzig and an exciting final matchday for the U17 side: the latest news from the women's department.
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Bayer 04 extended their unbeaten run this season to 45 competitive fixtures thanks to another dramatic finish away at Borussia Dortmund on Bundesliga Matchday 30. At first, the game looked like finishing goalless and then like a first defeat of 2023/24 for the Werkself before Leverkusen struck late yet again. This time it was Josip Stanisic in the seventh minute of added time to spark delight among the 8,000 travelling supporters and the coaches and substitutes on the bench. We round up the events in Dortmund in our Werkself review.
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