Live blog: Werkself in Baku to face Qarabag

+++7 March, 12.29 CET+++

Stretching, working up a sweat – and, of course, the ever popular football tennis. The Werkself players have completed their warm-up session at the team hotel. Now it's under the shower and off to a communal lunch. A few images of the football tennis...

+++7 March, 10.20 CET+++

If you want to find out more about today's opposition then you can read our lowdown on the next opponents. HERE  is the update on Qarabag, the serial champions of Azerbaijan.

+++7 March, 09.41 CET +++

While the players are having breakfast together, we take a brief look at today's timetable: At 11.00 CET there will be a warmup session at the team hotel followed by lunch at 12.30 CET. Ahead of the transfer to the stadium, the group will have a pre-match meal as well as the final team meeting. The kick-off is at 18.45 CET. We will bring you a report from the warmup session here. But now a safe journey to all the fans on the charter flight. We are looking forward to seeing you.

+++7 March, 06.33 CET+++

Unfortunately we have received news that the fan charter is taking off late due to an issue with the plane – however in time to be able to support the Werkself this evening at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium.

+++7 March, 05.50 CET+++

Good morning from Azerbaijan-it's matchday! While you are (hopefully) still asleep in Germany, we are slowly getting going here in Baku due to the three-hour time difference.

Moreover: At 07.40 CET, the fan charter SR8022 is due to set off from Cologne-Bonn airport in the direction of Baku. 105 fans are on board and there are a total of 420 fans at this furthest away game ever in Europe in the club's history. We can't thank you enough for your support.

+++6 March, 7pm+++

The Werkself have landed in Baku! They’re now going to make their way straight to the hotel, which is exactly 23 minutes away from the airport. Their last scheduled appointment for today is dinner together. And that’s all from us today as well. It’s already 10pm here. So good night, and see you all again tomorrow for the game!

+++6 March, 4.27pm+++

During the almost five-hour flight, Stefan Kießling told a few personal anecdotes. “It’s a really long flight. I never flew this far for a European game as a player. I think Istanbul was my longest flight for a competitive match,” the Bayer 04 honorary captain and club representative said, also revealing that he used to read a book on longer flights, watch a film or just close his eyes for a bit.

Kies also believes that there are some advantages for the team with longer flights. “You see now that the guys sit together, chat a bit and spend time together. That strengthens team spirit even more.”

The 2012/13 Bundesliga top scorer has never been to Baku before, not making the trip to Azerbaijan in the group stage last November. “I’m looking forward to the time there, even if it’s brief. The people who were there last time had a lot of positive things to say about Baku. As a player, you never really have the chance to see much of a city. You’re fully focused on the game. But I can now, and will do tomorrow during the day.”

+++6 March, 2.10pm+++

The team are now in the air on their way to Baku. Flight time is estimated at four hours and 40 minutes. We'll see you in Azerbaijan.

+++6 March, 1.30pm+++

The Werkself squad travelling to Baku:

Lukas Hradecky, Josip Stanisic, Piero Hincapie, Jonathan Tah, Odilon Kossounou, Jonas Hofmann, Robert Andrich, Borja Iglesias, Florian Wirtz, Edmond Tapsoba, Patrik Schick, Matej Kovar, Nathan Tella, Alejandro Grimaldo, Amine Adli, Adam Hlozek, Exequiel Palacios, Jeremie Frimpong, Gustavo Puerta, Granit Xhaka, Niklas Lomb.

+++6 March, 11.02 am+++

The 15 minutes of this final training session that are open to the media are now over. Edmond Tapsoba and the team started with a warm-up before the balls were brought into play. And there was more good news for Arthur as he also took part after returning to training only yesterday. The team will now have privacy to work on things before freshening up for the flight to Azerbaijan.

During training, managing director Simon Rolfes also spoke to some of the gathered media. The 42-year-old stated: “We’ll be up against an excited atmosphere in Baku. They’ll try to put us under pressure, are used to dominating games in their league. We’ll prepare for that. It won’t be easy, but we’ll be ready. The important thing will be that we play our game. Our goal is to reach the quarter-finals.”

+++6 March, 10.33 am+++

On their way to training at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, the players came across a group of children on a tour of the BayArena. Cheers and high fives will hopefully give the squad an extra boost for their final session before departing for Baku.

+++6 March, 9.51 am+++

You can read the key statements from Alonso and Andrich’s press conference HERE. They discussed the strengths of Qarabag, the competition for places within the Leverkusen squad, and their travel plans.

+++6 March, 9.30 am+++

Here’s how the day looks for Leverkusen.

Xabi Alonso and Robert Andrich have just finished speaking at the pre-match press conference at the BayArena. The team will then train for the final time at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, with the first 15 minutes open to the media. After that, they will make their way to Cologne/Bonn Airport for a flight to Baku at 2pm. Once on the ground in Azerbaijan, the squad will have dinner and rest up after a long day.

+++6 March: 9.04 am+++

The Werkself are preparing for their first European away game of 2024 as the team make their way to Baku today for the second time this season. They face Qarabag of Azerbaijan in the UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg on Thursday.