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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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Decision made: Germany will submit a bid to the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to host the 2036, 2040 or 2044 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Munich. The representatives of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) voted for Munich over Cologne-Rhine-Ruhr at their extraordinary meeting in Baden-Baden on Saturday 26 September. Berlin had already withdrawn from the vote a few days earlier.
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Former Werkself star Michael Ballack, who won the German Footballer of the Year award in 2002 while playing in Leverkusen, celebrates his 50th birthday on Saturday. Bayer 04 sends him its best wishes!
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A challenging start to what will hopefully be a long journey: The Bayer 04 women’s team kick off their new DFB Pokal campaign on Sunday (14:00 CEST) against second-division leaders FC Viktoria Berlin. Coach Roberto Pätzold expects stiff resistance in the capital – and is counting on his team’s strong away form in the Bundesliga so far this term.
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Attention Werkself fans: In addition to tickets for the floodlit home match against Werder Bremen, tickets are now also available for the Bayer 04 women’s team’s two subsequent fixtures against Eintracht Frankfurt and Hamburger SV at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Both matches in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga will take place at family-friendly kick-off times on Saturday afternoons. Here is the latest information on matchday ticket sales.
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