Yes, I'd like to see videos dispalyed.
“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.”
A special afternoon at the Bayer 04 Football Academy autumn camp: At the Liga 20 indoor football centre, in the shadow of the BayArena, two Werkself women’s team players led a training session. Loreen Bender and Selina Ostermeier not only offered the young players advice and support, but also got stuck in themselves.
Show more
Once the final whistle was blown, it was time to take a deep breath. 2-0 down and a 5–2 win in the end. It was a nerve-wracking affair against FC Nürnberg in the second round of the 2026–27 DFB Pokal. Jonas Hofmann said – “We didn’t let our heads drop” – hitting the nail on the head. Indeed, it was clear the Werkself were not prepared to accept elimination from the DFB Pokal. So they went on to score. The Black and Reds made their presence felt with a goal just before half-time, followed by four more in the second half. Or, to put it another way: Edmond Tapsoba’s first Bayer 04 brace, a clinical penalty from Patrik Schick, yet another precision strike from Hofmann and a blistering volley from Lucas Vázquez. Each goal more beautiful than the last! After the match, head coach Carles Martínez praised his team’s commitment above all else and the fact that they never lost belief in themselves. The Werkself review.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 5-2 win against 1. FC Nürnberg in the second round of the DFB-Pokal 2026/27...
Show more
Bayer 04 came from 2-0 down to beat Nürnberg 5-2 in the second round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal on Wednesday night. Edmond Tapsoba’s double either side of half-time sparked the turnaround, before Patrik Schick, Jonas Hofmann and Lucas Vázquez ensured progress to the last 16 for the 2024 cup winners.
Show more
