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The Werkself made a successful start to the new season with two wins in two Bundesliga games while the Lilies are still looking for their first points in the top-flight on the back of losing the DFB-Pokal tie against fourth tier FC Homburg 08. Xabi Alonso is expecting a tricky opponent at the weekend: "We have to be wide awake and focused on our game. The match against Darmstadt will be a tough one. Their game features a lot of set pieces and long balls. We have to control these situations. Against supposedly weaker opponents, we definitely don't want to make any avoidable mistakes," said Alonso at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
The approach to the last match before the forthcoming international break is clear: The Spaniard added: “We want to win our third league match before the break. That's our declared target."
Patrik Schick, Piero Hincapie plus the suspended Amine Adli are still unavailable. Timothy Fosu-Mensah is also ruled out due to a knee injury. New signing Nathan Tella and Nadiem Amiri will be in the squad.
Almost all the tickets for the Darmstadt game have been sold. There will be an away ticket office on the matchday.
In addition to the Bundesliga game, the members of the media present were also interested in the draw for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League 23/24 that took place just before the press conference. The Werkself will play three champions in Group H in Qarabag (Azerbaijan), Molde (Norway) and BK Häcken (Sweden). Alonso: "Our prime focus is on the Darmstadt game but we are very much looking forward to the Europa League. That is a reward for the hard work from last season. We want to compete and obviously go as far as we can. The group stage won't be easy. We will go into all the games with maximum respect."
The Spaniard then went into more detail on last season in the European competition and why the progress to the semi-finals is above all a special motivation for the new season in Europe: "We had very good experiences and went far. Getting so close to the final makes us hungry for more.”
Bayer 04 taking the home game against Darmstadt as occasion for the first Bayer Sports Family matchday. The historic connection between Bayer 04, TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and Bayer AG is being revived under the Cross with joint events like the family matchday and other events. The programme starts with the opening of the stadium at 13.30 CEST in the concourse at the BayArena with a wide range of highlights. Information on the Bayer Sports Family matchday can be found HERE.
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Video game producer Electronic Arts (EA) has announced the nominees for the Men's and Women's Team of the Year (TOTY) for EA Sports FC 26. With Patrik Schick and Alejandro Grimaldo for the men and Vanessa Fudalla for the women, there are three Bayer 04 players included. Fans of the Black-and-Reds can vote for each top XI of 2025 from now until 18:59 CET on Monday 12 January.
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The Werkself host Mainz at the BayArena on matchday 24 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The match is on Saturday, 28 February, at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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The long-standing successful collaboration between Bayer 04 and the transport service provider wupsi GmbH has been expanded: From January 2026, 100 wupsi bikes with Bayer 04 branding will be available for hire throughout the city of Leverkusen. They will complement the many existing offers and services that provide key support, especially for fans travelling to and from home matches at the BayArena.
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The Werkself are back! Following the two-week winter break, head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team began the new year with an open session on Sunday. After Robert Andrich and his teammates arrived in Leverkusen yesterday for the official check-in, they got back down to business a day later in front of around 1,200 fans at the Ulrich Haberland Stadion. The report from the Werkself's first session of 2026.
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