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“It was a long road. We’ve been fighting since August. Now we’re finally here. It’s the last game of the season. We want to end it with a good feeling and with the cup in our hands,” said Werkself boss Xabi Alonso. After Wednesday’s 3-0 defeat in the UEFA Europa League final against Atalanta, the Spaniard appeared fully focused again. “Dublin is done. Our analysis of the game was short because we had to and wanted to look ahead again. The loss has no great influence anymore, but we progress further through experiences like that. We’ll continue to do our thing.”
Captain Lukas Hradecky also spoke about his team’s first defeat in a year: “We knew straight away that we didn’t play with the Bayer DNA in Dublin. We were favourites and didn’t do it justice. We’re expecting that role again tomorrow.” The goalkeeper therefore had a warning: “We have to be careful that we don’t fall into the same trap again. We need to control the game from the start. We’re here to make up for Wednesday.”
Alonso also stressed that “being favourites means nothing. We need to show on the pitch that we deserve it. The pain is still fresh in us. We need to use that. The hunger and desire is even greater after Wednesday.”
In terms of the opposition, the 42-year-old is expecting a “dynamic and flexible team with a direct and quick approach.” Kaiserslautern are the first club from outside the Bundesliga to reach the DFB Pokal final since 2011. Talking about his opposite number Friedhelm Funkel, Alonso said: “It’s a great honour for me to play against coaches like him or Christian Streich. They’ve made history in football. In contrast, I’m still a young coach. It’s an intense job. I have the chance to learn a lot from them.”
In turn, Funkel said of Bayer 04: “Leverkusen are very professional. We’re going to be faced with an extremely tough task.” When asked why Funkel had said back in December that he was sure the Werkself would win the Bundesliga, the 70-year-old explained: “I was still retired then [laughs]. I often went to the BayArena and watched their games. It was just impressive how the team played.”
In terms of team selection, Alonso was typically coy, except for the position of goalkeeper. The Spaniard confirmed that Hradecky will start in goal tomorrow. “Matej [Kovar] and Lukas have both had a very good season, so both deserve to play one of the finals each.” Alonso was also full of praise for midfielder Robert Andrich: “Rob always has a very good attitude, whether he comes off the bench or starts. He’s always a leader.” However, he refused to say whether the 29-year-old would feature from the off against Kaiserslautern.
Thousands of Werkself fans have been making their way to the capital since this morning, and many more will follow tomorrow via road, rail and air. A total of 27,000 will support Alonso’s men inside the Olympiastadion on Saturday evening. You can find out more about the team’s build-up in Berlin in our live blog and across the club’s social channels.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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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 personal 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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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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