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"We are happy that all the international players were back in Leverkusen by yesterday. We talked a lot to each other yesterday and we will train together again for the first time today. But having so little time to prepare is not new to us," said Alonso at the start of the press conference on Friday. The Spaniard added: "We are currently benefiting from our preseason when we played a lot of games. That ensures we have a certain consistency in every game and can directly put our plans into action. So there will be no excuses tomorrow."
The good news is that all Werkself players have returned from international duty free of injury. The squad is therefore almost complete. Alonso still has to manage without the services of Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Arthur and Ayman Aourir. The Spanish coach will decide who will be in the squad for the game against VfL Wolfsburg after the final training session on Friday afternoon: "We have great competition for all positions, everybody has great quality, almost everybody is fit. That makes the decision all the more difficult for me as a coach but I prefer it to everything being straightforward. That shows all the players are always ready and that we have a high degree of flexibility and balance."
An example of that was the introduction of Amine Adli, Nathan Tella and Adam Hlozek in the 3-0 derby win against FC Köln: "They brought new energy into our game so we were able to maintain the tempo over 90 minutes," said the Spaniard before adding: "That's what we're looking for. We want to play consistent and mature football."
A first appearance for striker Patrik Schick in seven months is "entirely realistic" according to Alonso. The Czechia international has "completed almost all the training sessions in the last two weeks. But we want to take it step-by-step with him just as we did with Flo (Wirtz, ed.), " said Alonso as he praised the attitude of the 27-year-old: "We see his quality in every training session. We need him, his goals and his personality. You can see that he's happy again and feels better. We’re really happy about that."
Wolfsburg, who have yet to lose a home game this season, were described by the 41-year-old as a "strong team who have a great coach in Niko Kovac. They signed lots of players in the summer with high quality and the right mentality. It will be a big challenge."
An impressive 2,530 Bayer 04 fans will be supporting the team at the Volkswagen Arena. Tickets will also be available on the day at the ground.
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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