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“The winter break was good for us, enjoying a breather with our families. But now we’re glad to get going again,” Alonso stated at his press conference on Friday. “The players have come back with very good energy and in a good condition. We had a high tempo in training from the start. I also liked the friendly match [against Venezia]. We’re absolutely ready, although it’s always tough in Augsburg.” The Werkself in fact lost both meetings with the Bavarians last season.
Augsburg have been much better under Jess Thorup, earning 13 of their 18 points this season since the Dane took over in mid-October. “They’ve very much improved since then, also playing well in their friendly against Hoffenheim [1-0 win],” added Alonso. Augsburg rank bottom of the Bundesliga this season for possession (41.2%), while the Werkself are second with (60.7%), just behind Bayern Munich (61%).
Bayer 04 go to Augsburg without the injured Arthur and Victor Boniface, while Odilon Kossounou, Edmond Tapsoba and Amine Adli are competing at the Africa Cup of Nations. “We were prepared for the situation with the Cup of Nations,” Alonso explained. “We have a good squad and everyone is looking good.”
One of those is Patrik Schick, who bagged a hat-trick in the final game of last year against Bochum. “Patrik is very dangerous in the box and has excellent positional play. He’s also ready for 90 minutes,” the Spaniard stated before also mentioning: “Adam [Hlozek] can play there as well and is in good form. Same with Amine. We’ve got great confidence in every player in general.” It means the club is not under any pressure to sign any additional players. When asked, however, Alonso added: “But if a good option comes up, we’re ready.”
The Werkself will enjoy great support in Augsburg with 2,300 away fans accompanying the team, which is three times more than have ever watched Leverkusen at the WWK Arena.
The club can also announce at the start of this year that the number of away season tickets sold over the winter break has risen by over 200%.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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