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The double season is behind us as Xabi Alonso looks forward. "Like all teams we are starting with no points. Last season's success does not give us anything for the new campaign," said the Spaniard at the pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon. "We have to start picking up points again and work hard to achieve that."
The Werkself will go into the first game of the new Bundesliga season with great anticipation and motivation. "It's special to play in an opening match. The stadium in Mönchengladbach is big, there will be a special atmosphere – also thanks to our many fans at the game," said Alonso whose team will have the backing of 5,000 supporters in a full away end at Borussia Park.
The last meeting of the Werkself and Borussia Mönchengladbach at the BayArena at the end of January ended goalless. The team under former Leverkusen head coach Gerardo Seoane adopted a more defensive approach back then. Alonso is not expecting the same on Friday night: "Above all in attack, they have signed new players like Tim Kleindienst (FC Heidenheim 1846, ed.). It will be a different game from the one at the start of the year."
Alonso is ignoring the fact the Werkself are seen by many pundits as favourites for this match and the new Bundesliga season ahead. The 42-year-old coach: "Those opinions don't mean a thing. For me FC Bayern are the favourites again this term. Our clear target is the top four. The first thing for us is to make a good start to the season. And I feel good about that."
Bayer 04 signed three new players in the summer in Aleix Garcia, Jeanuel Belocian and Martin Terrier. Alonso responded to a question about them as follows: "Their quality and mentality are top and they have taken our style of play on board. I'm happy with the squad and the players."
The question of whether any of the new trio will be in the starting line-up against Borussia Mönchengladbach on Friday night was left unanswered as was the choice up front between Patrik Schick and Victor Boniface. And the Spaniard did not want to give anything away about his choice of keeper: "The decision of whether Lukas (Hradecky) or Matej (Kovar) will start remains open – but you will see tomorrow night. It's also not a decision for the whole season and we'll see what happens. Both are ready."

The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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Due to maintenance work, the online shop and other digital services from Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be temporarily restricted or unavailable from Monday, 23 March (18:00 CET) to Thursday, 26 March. Bayer 04 will provide immediate updates via the club's official channels if the work is completed earlier than planned. The overview.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-0 win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena on the 21th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Thanks to a masterstroke from Katharina Piljic, the Werkself secured their eleventh win of the season in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. On Sunday evening, coach Roberto Pätzold's team beat FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1-0. Midfielder Piljic scored the winning goal with a volley into the corner from the edge of the box (19’) in front of 633 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium - and ensured that Leverkusen moved up to fifth place in the table for at least one night with 34 points.
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Bayer 04 will have to make do without forward Martin Terrier in the next few weeks. The Frenchman sustained a muscle injury in his right hamstring in Saturday's 3-3 draw at Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.
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