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“It’ll be a big challenge tomorrow. We’re definitely not going to take the game easy,” Alonso stressed at the start of his press conference. “Being in the final is the greatest thing for a footballer. For the club as well, it would be something we haven’t had too often. That’s why we want to take this final step tomorrow,” the Spaniard said with determination. The 42-year-old, who reached the 2016 DFB Cup final with Bayern Munich but didn’t feature due to a rib injury, also spoke of the atmosphere. “The cup final in Berlin is special. I have fond memories of it. The atmosphere is really special, almost comparable with a Champions League final. The players want that, and we all want to experience it.”
However, Alonso also warned of a hungry opponent. “They’ve got good momentum in the league right now, a very good coach, and have been playing together for a long time. They absolutely deserve to be in the semi-finals,” the coach stated. He also described Fortuna as brave and dynamic: “It’ll be very intense. They’ve very flexible, can play with possession but can also be compact and look to counter. They’ll come here very excited, but same with us.”
Alonso has very nearly a full squad at his disposal for Wednesday. “It’s a super situation. Everyone except Arthur is in,” he confirmed. That means Exequiel Palacios and Victor Boniface are both back. Alonso said of the Nigerian striker: “Boni has trained very hard and has proven a strong mentality to come back. He can hardly wait to be back on the pitch.”
The BayArena is obviously sold out for Wednesday. Alonso is once again looking forward to an amazing atmosphere on home turf. “We need the support of our fans tomorrow to take this big chance. We can feel their excitement. It’s in the air. The fans want to go to Berlin, and so do we. We’ll give our all for that tomorrow.”
The fourth showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 starts for the Leverkusen eSports team today, Thursday 22 January (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel and on the Bayer 04 app from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Reds will once again compete with six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round in Berlin on 2 February at the fourth showdown. The lowdown on our next three opponents in the online preliminary round.
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The fourth European away trip of the season in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 takes the Werkself to the Greek capital. Head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team are away to Greek double winners Olympiacos on matchday seven in the UCL league phase. The match at the Karaiskakis Stadium is on Tuesday, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET). We'll be taking you on a trip to Athens and reporting on the Werkself close-up...
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A great honour for Bayer 04 Women's German international: as part of the 2025 Sports Awards, Carlotta Wamser entered her name into the City of Leverkusen's Golden Book. On Tuesday, she looked back on a special year in a talk in the Morsbroich Castle hall of mirrors.
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It was a disappointing night in Athens: The Werkself lost 2-0 away to Olympiacos on Matchday 7 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign. In a match that was intense and fiery from the outset, the high-pressing home side made the better start and took the lead through Costinha on two minutes. Although the Werkself had a number of chances to equalise, the clinical Greek side increased the lead to 2-0 shortly before half-time (45+1’). In the second half, Leverkusen once again gave their all and showed total commitment but, despite their best efforts, the Black and Reds were unable to break down the Olympiacos defence on the night.
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