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On the back of the "great atmosphere at the stadium and good team performance” in the home game against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday (3-0), Xabi Alonso and the Werkself are looking forward to the final match in 2023.
VfL Bochum also go into the game on the back of a win: The team led by coach Thomas Letsch beat Union Berlin 3-0 at home at the weekend. "They played very well and are a team with a heart that battles," said Alonso at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon where he also made it clear: "We're playing at home, we definitely want to win."
If the Werkself beat Bochum or the match ends all square then it would be the 25th match in succession without defeat. That would set a new record in the Bundesliga. Before the Werkself this season, only Hamburg SV went 24 games without defeat (1982/83). In response to a question about the potential record, Alonso said: "I don't think too much about records. We just want to win our games. Of course, we're happy if that brings records with it."
Exequiel Palacios is unavailable for this game. The Argentinian midfield enforcer picked up a fifth yellow card against Eintracht Frankfurt. "Of course, we'll miss him, he's developed very well this year and has had a great season to date. We'll wait and see who starts tomorrow," said Alonso who named Robert Andrich, Gustavo Puerta and also Alejandro Grimaldo as potential alternatives in this position.
The fact the Spaniard has so many options in terms of personnel is also due to the low number of injuries in the Werkself squad in the season to date. Alonso on that: "Obviously injuries can always happen but we haven't suffered from that yet. Our medical team is working hard to prevent and avoid injuries. In principle, that's as important as the training sessions themselves."
Bochum come to Leverkusen as the team that inflicted the last defeat on Bayer 04: VfL won 3-0 at home at the end of May to secure their top-flight status while the Werkself qualified for the Europa League. Alonso and his players dealt with that result a long time ago.
Now it is time to look forward to the final game of the year at the BayArena. Asked about the relationship between the team, club and fans, the Spaniard said: "Feeling the enthusiasm of the fans and celebrating together is a great feeling for me and almost as important as the points themselves. We want to create that feeling as often as possible in the New Year as well."
The fans at the BayArena should stay after the final whistle for a brief and communal festive conclusion to the year. Players, coaches and staff will gather in the centre circle and sing two Christmas carols with the fans with the backing of a choir.
The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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