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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.
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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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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