Simon Rolfes on…
…his emotions after the announcement of Xabi Alonso leaving at the end of the season: "Farewells are always emotional. Of course, you start thinking about looking back at the time together and the memory of great moments with the league title win and the DFB Pokal but also the first discussions and the first weeks. All those experiences will be there forever and connect us forever."
…discussions with Xabi Alonso: "Of course, this moment is not all too surprising for us today. Communication with Xabi was and is very open and transparent at all times and the level of trust accordingly great. The final decision came this week even though there was obviously movement and certain thoughts before that."
…discussions on the successor in the dugout: "When I started here it was always said that everything would be over if Kai Havertz left. It didn't turn out to be like that. And it won't be like that again now and things will obviously carry on. Of course, we have had discussions recently and weighed our options and Xabi knew that too. But until something is 100% certain we will not be in the final phase of discussions. The decision has been made and therefore we logically move into that final phase. We will find a good solution for Bayer 04 and are firmly convinced that we will enter a new successful era."
…the future of Florian Wirtz: "Of course, there are different options with Flo, a lot of clubs are very interested in him. But one option is that he stays with us. He still has two years on his contract and that means we aren't forced to make a decision in the next five days. There is no exact timetable."
…squad planning and players in and out: "First of all it's human response to think about your own future after a successful time with a coach. That's completely normal. As a club, we are very ambitious and we want to have a top coach and a top team next season too. I don't think it's bad that there will be changes. There will be a wind of change and we will create a new dynamic. Lots of players, lots of important players will stay. And we will also bring in good players."
Just 11 days after their last encounter in the Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Women meet Hamburger SV again. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the two teams will be battling it out at the Volksparkstadion for a place in the DFB Cup quarter-finals. Coach Roberto Pätzold is aware of his team's status as favourites against the promoted outfit - and knows what it will come down to against the awkward opponents.
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Bayer 04 Women goalkeeper Charlotte Voll has been hit by injury again. The 26-year-old suffered an acromioclavicular joint separation in her left shoulder in the latter stages of the Bundesliga match at SC Freiburg on Monday and is set to be sidelined for a number of months. She underwent successful surgery in Düsseldorf on Friday.
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Like they did in the first showdown of the VBL Club Championship by WOW, which the Leverkusen gamers won in spectacular style, Marc and Sean Landwehr also started the second showdown with six points by beating TSG Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum 1848, last-16 participants of the first showdown. The #B04eSports team suffered defeat to SV Darmstadt 98 and Hertha BSC. Meanwhile, Keanu Senkbeil made his VBL CC debut in the clash with the capital club.
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The Bayer 04 Women will end 2025 with the Bundesliga top match against Bayern Munich on Monday night, 22 December. The schedule for matchdays 12 to 15 has been announced by the German Football Association (DFB). In addition to two away games on Fridays, Leverkusen also have a home game on a Saturday lunchtime.
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The next showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 is here. On their way to the offline round, to be held at the second showdown in Frankfurt am Main on 23 November, six opponents await in the online preliminary round. The #B04eSports team will face the first four this Thursday, 13 November, from 18:00 CET (live on the Bayer 04 app and on Twitch). The lowdown on our opponents.
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