"We are happy to go into the new season with these two top people," said Simon Rolfes, currently sporting director and from 1 July sporting managing director at Bayer 04. "We want to keep on improving in all areas and work at the highest level. That also obviously includes the area of fitness, which is of crucial importance in professional football."
Ismael Camenforte Lopez joined Leverkusen in the summer of 2021. After studying at the University of Barcelona the 38-year-old Spaniard worked as fitness coach at FC Barcelona for seven years plus 18 months at the MLS club New York City FC. The Catalan returned to Europe from the USA in August 2020 to work as a fitness coach with Denmark.
Markus Müller has joined Leverkusen from Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 36-year-old worked as a fitness coach with the Foals for six years. Müller, who completed his bachelor degree at the German Sports University in Cologne, previously worked in a similar position at the Borussia Dortmund academy for two years.
A disciplined defensive performance in the second leg saw Bayer 04 prevail against Olympiacos in the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26. Thanks to the 2-0 away win in the first leg, the goalless draw at home at the BayArena was enough to ensure progress to the next round. The Black and Reds kept their opponents away from their goal for the best part of 90 minutes.
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Bayer 04 can go through to the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League for the ninth time tonight, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET) and be in the top 16 clubs in Europe. A good omen: Leverkusen have progressed to the next round after winning the first leg in 20 of their 22 knockout rounds in European competitions to date. For their part, Greek record champions Olympiacos rested several players for last weekend’s league fixture ahead of the play-off second leg at the BayArena and will now do everything in their power to turn the tide with their usual aggressive and high pressing. The discussions on Werkself radio are likely to be just as intense as the battle on the pitch, with commentator Florian Bechholz welcoming honorary captain Stefan Kießling and goalkeeper Mark Flekken. Today’s matchday news.
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With the advantage of the 2-0 first-leg win in the play-offs, the Werkself are looking to book their place in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League at the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the home game against Olympiacos on Tuesday, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand and goalkeeper Janis Blaswich spoke about the position ahead of the match, the visitors' strength at set-pieces and a personnel issue for the home side.
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With a win in the Greek Super League last weekend, Olympiacos achieved success on the pitch ahead of the UEFA Champions League play-off second leg at Bayer 04 on Tuesday, 24 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET). Coach José Luis Mendilibar rested many of his regular starters.
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