
The Spanish capital was home to Xabi Alonso for five years. As a player with Real Madrid, the now 40-year-old regularly faced the city rivals. Back then as today in the dugout at Atlético Madrid: Diego Simeone. "The ways of the coach are reflected in the team, the whole club and the fans of Atlético," said Alonso about the Argentinian who has been with the Rojiblancos since 2011. "Diego Simeone is a great coach and knows how to lead his team and take the crowd with him. But we are ready for this stage tomorrow night."
While Atlético Madrid and the Werkself meet late on Wednesday evening (21.00 CEST), Club Brugge and Porto face each other at 18.45 CEST. Alonso: "It could be to our advantage if we know the other result from our group before we kick-off. That could give us more energy for our game."

Regardless of the other match and result, there is already great motivation and anticipation within the team for a successful conclusion to the clash with the Rojiblancos. Jeremie Frimpong, who also fielded questions from the German and Spanish media representatives on Tuesday evening, stressed: "All of us in the team know the importance of this match. We are ready to give 100 per cent tomorrow and do all we can to win."
Above all, avoiding mistakes in the Werkself’s own game is required to take the three points back to Leverkusen. "We saw against Porto that the smallest error can be punished immediately at this level. We can't afford that to happen tomorrow," declared Alonso who will have to manage without Kerem Demirbay, Charles Aránguiz and Sardar Azmoun in the return game against Atlético.
It remains to be seen whether Patrik Schick will be available for the Atletico game. The Czech striker was recently sidelined with a groin problem but he did travel to Madrid on Tuesday. "Patrik has another day to recover so we won't make a decision about him today," explained Alonso.

With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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Dieter Bast was born in Oberhausen on 28 August 1951. He began playing football in the youth team at DJK Arminia Klosterhardt, a local club in Oberhausen. Whilst training as a toolmaker, he moved to neighbouring club Sterkrade 06/07 to play for their U19s, where he caught the eye of Bundesliga sides Rot-Weiss Essen and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Bast opted for Rot-Weiss and played in the Bundesliga from 1970 onwards. In his very first year, he made 22 appearances as a right winger, scoring three goals. Nevertheless, Essen were unable to avoid relegation.
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José Vítor Roque Júnior was born on 31 August 1976 in Santa Rita do Sapucaí, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. As a youth, he played for São José EC, a club in the east of the state of São Paulo. His professional career began in 1995 with Palmeiras São Paulo. There, Roque Júnior quickly established himself as a key player in the team, making more than 200 appearances and enjoying significant success. With the club, he won the Copa do Brasil in 1998 and the Copa Libertadores in 1999, the South American equivalent of the European Champions League.
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In this video you can see impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 from the month of August. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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