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"We have to produce our best performance on the pitch tomorrow. We've only played one game so far. We did win it but there are things that we could certainly improve on," explained Xabi Alonso at the pre-match press conference on Friday 25 August.
“Last weekend's successful opener against Leipzig (3-2, ed.) was definitely important," stressed the Spaniard but now the focus is on looking forwards to the first game on the road. Alonso: "We've taken the first step and now, of course, we want to win away too. The match against Mönchengladbach will be difficult for us." The 41-year-old coach knows about the "rivalry between the two clubs" and is therefore expecting an "emotional" match.
For the encounter with the Foals, Alonso will again have to manage without the injured Patrick Schick as well as the suspended Piero Hincapie and Amine Adli.
The clash on Saturday night will bring reunions for Bayer 04 and Borussia. The Werkself led by skipper Lukas Hradecky are up against the current BMG head coach and Alonso predecessor Gerardo Seoane for the first time since he took over the Foals at the beginning of June.
Alonso only had words of praise for the Swiss manager: "Gerardo is a good coach. Everybody at Bayer 04 only says positive things about him. Unfortunately there wasn't any contact back then. Therefore I'm very much looking forward to meeting him on Saturday and catching up with that moment."
The two new signings Jonas Hofmann and Granit Xhaka will also meet up with familiar faces on Saturday. Xhaka played for the Foals from 2012 to 2016, Hofmann was still at Gladbach last season. "It will definitely be a special and emotional game for him," said Alonso.
Alonso will once again be able to count on outstanding support from the stands in Saturday's match against the Foals: Over 3,000 Bayer 04 fans are set to be at BORUSSIA PARK for the first Werkself away game in the new season.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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To all Bayer 04 fans: The Fanwelt will be closed all day next Monday 30 June. This is due to preparations for the change of kit supplier from Castore to New Balance on Tuesday 1 July.
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The Norway U23 international Julie Jorde has completed the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Brøndby IF. The twelve-time champions of Denmark have signed the midfielder on permanent terms after her loan move from the Bundesliga to Denmark in the winter.
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It is almost two years since Bayer 04 new signing Abdoulaye Faye first stepped foot into the BayArena as a player for the Swedish club BK Häcken in the opening match in the 2023/24 Europa League campaign. A day before his nineteenth birthday, the central defender did not play in the 4-0 win for the Werkself but it was "an incredible night" for him on 21 September 2023 as he explained in his first interview on bayer04.de. "I watched the players and saw the fans. I liked it." It was also the first European night early on in his career. He only joined the then champions of Sweden in the cold north of Europe from his home in Senegal a few weeks before that special moment. Bayer04.de profiles our new defender.
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Welcome, Abdoulaye Faye. The 20-year-old Senegalese central defender joins Leverkusen from top-flight Swedish club BK Häcken. In his first interview he talks about his move to Bayer 04 and his targets with the Werkself.
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