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“We’re excited to be back in cup action,” said Alonso at Monday’s press conference. “It’s a nice competition, both for big and smaller clubs. Every team has to approach every game as if it were a final. That makes it all more interesting and exciting.”
The Werkself are very much aware that the DFB Pokal can throw up some surprises, as they discovered in Elversberg back in 2022/23. Back then, the newly promoted 3. Liga side claimed a 4-3 win to dump out Leverkusen in the first round. “Obviously there are players from both sides who were there and will be involved again tomorrow, but those are and will remain just memories. They’ve made great progress since then, but so have we,” the Spaniard stated.
Alonso, therefore, preferred to only look ahead to this next encounter with the Saarland club, who are set to bring 1,900 supporters with them to Leverkusen. “They have great qualities. We saw that again in impressive fashion against Hamburg at the weekend [4-2 win]. But when we play our game, we’ll win. We need to be mentally ready and disciplined.”
The boss also confirmed that Jeanuel Belocian will miss the game due to an ankle injury, as well as long-term absentee Amine Adli.
There are still tickets available for the game in the Bayer 04 ticket shop.
Monday evening also sees this year’s Ballon d'Or award ceremony in Paris. Bayer 04 are represented in three categories, with the team up for Men’s Club of the Year, Alonso in the Men’s Team Coach and the trio of Alejandro Grimaldo, Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka up for the Men’s Ballon d’Or.
When asked about the awards, Alonso said: “We’re very proud. The nominations are a great honour. And to have them in three categories. It was a super season, almost a dream season. So, the nominations are absolutely deserved.”

Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 2-1 win at SC Freiburg on Matchday 5 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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Calling Bayer 04 families – this matchday is all yours! As part of the Family Matchday on Sunday 20 September, not only will the Werkself take on RB Leipzig at 15:30 CEST but there will also be a variety of activity zones for young and old alike be set up around the BayArena. What’s more, genuine Bayer 04 rarities await Black and Red fans at the Fantrödel flea market. By taking part in the fan travel survey, Leverkusen supporters can help the club gather important information and even win a jersey before the Werkself hit the ground running against Leipzig on the pitch. The matchday news for RB Leipzig game.
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It has been a mixed start to the season for RB Leipzig. The team from Saxony have a flawless record at home but are less successful on the road to date. RBL are looking to change that in their away fixture at the BayArena on Sunday, 20 September (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). However, head coach Martin Demichelis will have to manage without a number of key players. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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With a flawless away record under their belts, the Bayer 04 women’s team travel to SC Freiburg. On Sunday 20 September (16:00 CEST), coach Roberto Pätzold’s side will be aiming for three points again, six days after their narrow defeat to Bayern Munich. The Werkself have emerged victorious from both of their away fixtures so far this season.
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