The Werkself in Rome – live updates

+++11 May, 13.37 CEST+++

The Werkself started matchday preparation with a walk near to the team hotel. That was followed by a few games of football tennis in the hotel - including good spirits all round and acrobatic input. See for yourselves...

+++11 May, 11.23 CEST+++

While the strongest athletes in Rome used to compete at the Colosseum 2,000 years ago, the Stadio Olimpico now offers sporting entertainment to the citizens of Rome. AS Roma and city rivals Lazio have shared the stadium since 1953. The Olympic Stadium has a 72,698 capacity and has staged almost every major event in athletics and football. Today it is the semi-final first leg in the Europa League...

+++11 May, 09.42 CEST+++

Moreover: Today is a really good opportunity to put on a Werkself shirt at school, at university or at work to show your support for the Black and Reds - we look forward to seeing your photos. Use tags for our official social media accounts and/or use the hashtags #FinallyRed and #ForOurDream.

+++11 May, 08.59 CEST+++

Good morning from Rome. The Werkself start the day with a communal breakfast before a warm-up session at the team hotel around 11.00 CEST. The rest of the day for Florian Wirtz, Moussa Diaby and Co. will consist of rest, meals and meetings. A typical matchday. And there is a special game indeed today. So, matchday mode on!

+++10 May, 19.28 CEST+++

The press conference is over. “We are ready for their approach to the game,” declared head coach Xabi Alonso. Captain Lukas Hradecky added, “we face a big match on an impressive stage where we want to achieve a good position for the second leg at home in Leverkusen.” Other statements from Alonso on his opposite number José Mourinho can be found HERE.

+++10 May, 17.57 CET+++

Bayer 04 have landed in Rome. After a relaxed flight south, the majority of the Werkself squad headed for the team hotel while head coach Xabi Alonso and skipper Lukas Hradecky went straight to the Stadio Olimpico for the pre-match press conference. The key statements will appear here later.

+++10 May, 15.15 CEST+++

The squad for the first leg at AS Roma: Lukas Hradecky, Patrick Pentz, Niklas Lomb, Maximilian Neutgens, Piero Hincapie, Jonathan Tah, Mitchel Bakker, Odilon Kossounou, Robert Andrich, Sardar Azmoun, Kerem Demirbay, Nadiem Amiri, Edmond Tapsoba, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Moussa Diaby, Amine Adli, Adam Hlozek, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Exequiel Palacios, Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Ayman Azhil.

Daley Sinkgraven and Noah Mbamba are also on board. The duo, not registered for the Europa League, are supporting their teammates in Rome and will travel with the team to Stuttgart after the game. The Werkself are away to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Sunday at 15.30 CEST. Patrik Schick is still sidelined due to injury, Karim Bellarabi injured himself in the final pre-match training session and is unable to travel to Rome.

+++10 May, 12.32 CEST+++

“We have a big chance,” said Simon Rolfes, the Bayer 04 sporting managing director, on Wednesday ahead of the final pre-match training session for the Werkself at the BayArena. “After many years, we now have the opportunity again to reach the final of a European competition. You can see: The excitement is increasing.”

In response to a question about the increasing attention in Germany and the Bundesliga for the semi-final for Bayer 04 as the only German club left in European competitions, Rolfes said. “The chance of being in the final is always something special,” and he added that from his perspective the Europa League has “a different status compared with the UEFA Cup ten years ago.”

+++10 May, 11.45 CEST+++

The 15 minutes of the official final training session at the BayArena, open to the media, are over. Birthday boy Amine Adli and Co. now continue behind closed doors.

+++10 May, 10.43 CEST+++

Today’s agenda for the Werkself is as follows: The official pre-match training session at the BayArena starts at 11.30 CEST. The squad will then travel by bus to Cologne - Bonn airport for the flight to Rome. While the majority of the Bayer 04 group will travel straight from the airport to the team hotel after landing, head coach Xabi Alonso and a Werkself player – this time the skipper Lukas Hradecky – will attend the pre-match press conference at the Stadio Olimpico in the evening as the final official event of the day.

+++10 May, 09.57 CEST+++

The route to the semi-final for the Werkself: Bayer 04 qualified for the knockout stage of the Europa League at the start of November as the third-placed team in Champions League Group B. The Black and Reds finished behind Porto and Club Brugge but ahead of Atlético Madrid. In the play-offs, a nail-biting second leg at AS Monaco ended in a win on penalties to secure a place in the Round of 16. The next opponents were Ferencvaros and the Werkself won both games 2-0. And Bayer 04 were also the winners in the quarter-final against the Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise (1-1, 4-1). Now the opponents are AS Roma...

+++10 May, 09.04 CEST+++

The Werkself are on their next European trip: The Bayer 04 squad head for Italy this afternoon for tomorrow’s semi-final first leg in the Europa League against AS Roma at 21.00 CEST.