"The team now wants and needs competitive action," declared Xabi Alonso at the pre-match press conference on Friday morning. Like all the Bundesliga teams, the Werkself played their last league match in the middle of November (2-0 against VfB Stuttgart) with the 2022 World Cup in December and January bringing numerous training sessions plus four friendlies. "We made best use of the weeks, spent a lot of time together and worked on different things," explained Alonso. "Now we are ready for Sunday!" Lukas Hradecky and Co. will have the support of more than 2,700 Werkself fans in the away section at Borussia Park. Tickets are available on the day of the game two hours before kick-off at 15.30 CET with a number of seats available for the away section.
The team led by coach Xabi Alonso face an intensive start to the Bundesliga campaign in 2023: The clash in Mönchengladbach is followed by the game against VfL Bochum at the BayArena on Wednesday and the Werkself then entertain Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.
Borussia Mönchengladbach yesterday announced the departure of their long-standing number one Yann Sommer. The 34-year-old Switzerland keeper has signed for Bayern Munich. The team under head coach Daniel Farke have brought in another Swiss keeper in Jonas Omlin. The 29-year-old fellow countrymen of Sommer's has been signed from the top-flight French club Montpellier. "Yann Sommer is a very good keeper and played an important role in the team from Mönchengladbach," said Alonso. The Spaniard added: "We don't know what effect the move will have."
Good news for all Black and Red supporters is the fact a number of injured Bayer 04 players were able to use the winter break to recover. The only certain absences are Charles Aránguiz and Patrik Schick although they are on the right track and are now back on the training ground as Xabi Alonso explained on Friday.
All of the other Werkself players are available for the matchday squad as it stands – including winter signing Noah Mbamba. The 18-year-old defensive midfielder was signed from top Belgian club Club Brugge a week ago. "We still have two training sessions before Sunday and nearly all the players are fit. It won't be easy to decide which players travel," said Alonso in explaining the current situation. The head coach found words of praise for new signing Mbamba: "He's only 18 years old but already has a big personality and good charisma. We are happy to have him here with us."
The focus of the members of the media in person and online on Friday included Florian Wirtz. The last competitive appearance for the 19-year-old was ten months ago in March of last year when Wirtz suffered a torn cruciate in the game against FC Köln. "Flo has made good progress again in recent weeks and he played for almost 90 minutes in the last friendly (1-0 against FC Copenhagen, ed). He's ready," said Alonso who ascribes "very special qualities" to the versatile forward "with the ability to connect the midfield to the strikers."
At the same time, the Bayer 04 head coach stressed that the Werkself number 27 can only be successful together with his teammates: "The team must grow as a group. If that happens then Flo will automatically improve. We need everybody in our squad."
As announced by Bayer 04 on Friday morning, Rudi Völler is immediately stepping back from his activities with the Werkself as a member of the shareholders committee due to his commitment to the German Football Association (DFB). The 62-year-old will also relinquish his role as club ambassador until the end of his work for the DFB. Xabi Alonso congratulated Völler saying: "Rudi is a big personality in German football. He's very intelligent and will hopefully do a good job for the DFB and the Germany team. We will wait for him to come back."
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-1 loss at Bayern Munich in the round of 16 of the women's DFB-Pokal 2026/27
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Thomas Hörster was born in Essen on 27 November 1956. As a child, he took part in high diving and judo, but was also passionate about football. After starting out at Blau-Weiß Holsterhausen-Essen, he moved on to ETB Schwarz-Weiß Essen. As a U19 player, he trained with the senior side for the first time. And at just under 18 years of age, Thommy – as he is known – made his debut in Bundesliga 2. Over two-and-a-half seasons, he made 71 appearances for Schwarz-Weiß Essen.
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Bernd Dreher was born in Leverkusen on 2 November 1966 and he began playing football at SV Schlebusch at the age of five. At the age of nine, he joined the youth academy at Bayer 04. There, the goalkeeper progressed through all the youth teams and, with the U19s in 1985, he reached the final of the German Championship, that Bayer 04 lost 4-2 to Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Robson Ponte was born on 6 November 1976 in São Paulo. He began his football career in Brazil with CA Juventus. He then played for América FC and Guarani FC. In 1999, he joined Bayer 04. Robson initially played for the Werkself until 2001. He then moved to VfL Wolfsburg on a two-year loan. There, he continued to develop and gained valuable experience in the Bundesliga. In 2003, he returned to Leverkusen, where he particularly showcased his dribbling skills and his ability in attacking midfield. In total, he made 79 appearances for Bayer 04 and scored six goals.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of November. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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