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There is plenty of confidence – on both sides: While the visitors from Bochum have won the last three Bundesliga matches, the Werkself have gone one better with four wins on the bounce. "We are expecting a very, very intense match and an opponent playing with a lot of energy," said Xabi Alonso at the pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon. "They fight for every ball. We also need that commitment to come out on top."
The previous match in Mönchengladbach (3-2) serves as a lesson and illustration right up to the last minute to "give everything. If we don't play with the highest mentality, focus and intensity then everybody will have chances against us." Last weekend, the Werkself built up a 3-0 lead but conceded two goals late on.
As at Borussia Mönchengladbach, Charles Aránguiz and Patrik Schick are again unavailable for the match against Bochum. In response to a question on centre forward Schick, Alonso gave an update: "Patrik feels a lot better and has made good progress in the last two weeks. He definitely won't be with us tomorrow and it's probably too early for Dortmund. But he's getting closer."
One Black and Red player being talked about for their efforts on the pitch is Mitchel Bakker. The 22-year-old Dutchman has started for the Werkself at left-back in the last four matches and Bakker scored the opening goal in the clash with the Foals. Alonso was full of praise in response to a question about Bakker: "We've worked a lot with Mitch and said to him he has to get forward into the box more often. He scored the goal from two yards out and he went right from the back to right to the front. That's exactly what I want to see."
Around 26,500 tickets have been sold for the first Bundesliga home game of the year with 3,000 going to Bochum fans. Tickets for the match at the BayArena kicking off at 20.30 CET are still available via the usual options including at the ticket web shop. Information on ticket sales can be found HERE.
Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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