
Who is better, Ronaldo or Messi? This question once again divided opinion, as it did among the more than 100 kids present at the Bayer 04 Football School when Borja Iglesias put it back to them in eager anticipation. Shortly afterwards, however, everyone was in agreement when the Werkself pro asked the kids for their opinion of his teammate Florian Wirtz - hands immediately went up in unison in the young audience.
Iglesias went on to say that he even won 1-0 in Portugal with the Spanish national team against Cristiano Ronaldo, although he conceded a few goals against Messi with his clubs in the Spanish league. However, his own childhood idols were not CR7 or Messi: "As a striker, I naturally thought Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres were great. I even know Torres personally, which is a great honour for me." The Spaniard also revealed that pepperoni pizza is his absolute favourite food. "Even though I'm not allowed to eat it that often, of course," he joked.
Even after half an hour, there were no fewer raised hands from the curious kids, who went into the press conference fully prepared and, like the real journalists, peppered the striker with tricky questions - such as what drew him to Leverkusen. "It's always been a dream of mine to play football outside of Spain," explained Iglesias. "That's why it wasn't really difficult for me to come here. And I felt at home here right from the start. Bayer 04 is a big club, but also a very familiar one." It was therefore easy for him to settle in quickly, he added: "We all get on really well as a team. Obviously I speak the same language as Grimaldo, but I also have a very good relationship with Flo and Jona [Jonathan Tah]. And Jerry [Jeremie Frimpong] is a real joker!"








Afterwards, the Spaniard naturally left no selfie or autograph request unfulfilled. One little visitor had even prepared something very special and presented Iglesias with a picture he had painted himself. The 31-year-old was touched and summarised afterwards: "It's a great event, it's a huge thing for the children and you can tell how excited they are. But also how well they have prepared. It was really great fun and very refreshing," and jokingly added: "But I'll have to put my hand in the ice barrel first after signing so many autographs." (laughs) Let's see which player will answer the questions of the young journalists next week...
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Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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