25.10.2023Werkself-TV

Alonso ahead of #B04QAR: Strong opponent with ‘lots of experience in Europe and a clear game plan’

The big match in Group H: The Werkself entertain the Azerbaijani champions Qarabag at the BayArena in the third group match in the 2023/24 UEFA Europa League campaign. The game between the group leaders from Leverkusen and second-placed Qarabag is on Thursday 26 October (kick-off: 21.00 CEST). Head coach Xabi Alonso and midfielder Jonas Hofmann highlighted the relevance of the game at the pre-match press conference. A third victory in the third outing would put the Werkself in a good position to win the group and progress to the knock-out rounds.

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“It’s a very important match. If we win, we have a good chance of making it to the knock-out rounds. But it will be a difficult game. Qarabag have lots of experience in Europe, a good coach and a clear game plan,” said Alonso at the start of the press conference.

Qarabag, like Leverkusen, are unbeaten in the Europa League and have yet to concede a goal in the group stage. Hofmann is also aware of the quality of the Azerbaijani team and he sees a focussed performance as the key to winning the game: “We have to be wide awake and play with full concentration. Games like these can throw you off course if they don’t turn out like you expected. We have to be right on it at the crucial moment and we want to want to win the group at the end of the day.”

Hofmann: "it's looking good"

The Werkself go into the clash with Qarabag in a confident mood. Hofmann: “Everybody’s in good shape after the international break and they have come back to Leverkusen with lots of motivation. We coped well with the travel and I think you can see that we continue to look fresh even after the difficult game against Wolfsburg. That’s how we’ll be tomorrow. It's looking good.”

Nearly all the players are available for the game against Qarabag. Only Arthur is sidelined.

sell-out expected in home sections

Despite the late kick-off on Thursday (21.00 CEST) the Werkself can again expect good support. 27,500 tickets have been sold so far and all the home sections are expected to be sold out.

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