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"It was an incredible night, which I also need to process first," reflected the Spaniard. "None of us had much sleep. We need to forget the Europa League for now, though, and focus fully on Sunday. We're in a good position in the Bundesliga. It's the last match before the international break. We absolutely want to end this block with a win," added Alonso. According to the 41-year-old, that requires above all "a lot of emotionality, just like in the European games. But first and foremost, we want to have control of the game."
Alonso is expecting a hard-fought contest against head coach Christian Streich's side, "a top team with intelligent players and a very competitive coach with a lot of experience in the club".
The Bayer 04 boss also highlighted the opponents' flexibility: "They can play in a very nice, dominant way but they can also adapt very well in difficult matches. They're strong from set pieces, too." They therefore need "to be ready for all scenarios", added the Spaniard.
There was good news on Jonas Hofmann. "The scan has shown that it's not a muscle strain. We'll see for Sunday," confirmed Alonso.
Meanwhile, patience is required with Victor Boniface. The striker is making good progress, and they want to make good use of the international break. "He's close to getting back onto the pitch," revealed Alonso. "If it goes well, he could play a part against Hoffenheim, but we have patience."
Victory over SCF would already confirm Leverkusen's participation in next season's UEFA Champions League. Alonso is ambitious: "We already said in the summer that we had this goal. Now we can realise that and we want to achieve it on Sunday."
The Werkself will be supported in this task by 3,400 travelling fans in Freiburg. Just like recent away matches, the away section is again sold out.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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