"The game here is special for me as I scored my first goal for the national team here. That will always stay with me," described Frimpong, who also revealed that a large chunk of his family, who live in Amsterdam, will be in attendance tomorrow. Alonso also expressed his excitement for the upcoming match at the famous old 'De Kuip' stadium: "It's a historic stadium with a unique atmosphere. Kicking off the Champions League here, it couldn't be better."
What's more, the motivation for the competition is massive. "Everyone wants to play in the Champions League at some point," said the Bayer 04 head coach. "It's the biggest stage, so we're happy to be back on it. We have a challenging but exciting season ahead of us and are really looking forward to it." However, the Spaniard also sounded a word of warning: "All teams start with zero points. Last season a dream came true for us, but we don't want to look back anymore. Our aim now is to prove ourselves again. The players have hunger. We want to get as many points as possible from the first block of four games."
The Spaniard also praised the opponents. "I already watched Feyenoord a lot in the Europa League last season because we could've come up against them at any point and we wanted to be ready." Frimpong also sees the Dutch hosts as a "top team", adding: "I don't think we're the favourites. Feyenoord have been playing at a high level for years and are a big club here in the Netherlands. Some of my team-mates from the national team also play here. We have great respect for them. So, the game tomorrow could go either way."
They'll have to pay particular attention to striker Santiago Gimenez, according to Alonso. "He'll be a big challenge for our defence," he explained. "He's a very all-round player, has good movement and is always willing, so we'll need to keep an eye on him at all times."
A crowd of 42,000 is expected at "De Kuip" - "the tub" in English - including 2,500 visiting supporters. All Werkself fans should read the club's fan info for the match.
The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
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As in the past two years, the Werkself are aiming to come out on top in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals on Tuesday night, 3 February (kick-off: 20:45 CET). With eleven home games in a row without defeat against the Kiezkicker, the Black and Reds go into the floodlit match in confident mood. But the Pokal, as is often said, has its own magic and the team from the Millerntor has much more to offer than the current 17th place in the Bundesliga would suggest. After all, Bayer 04 are one of the big German teams the combative Hamburgers have already made life difficult for this season. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have agreed a loan move for U19s striker Ken Izekor to join Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig on loan for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
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