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“It’ll be a big challenge tomorrow. We’re definitely not going to take the game easy,” Alonso stressed at the start of his press conference. “Being in the final is the greatest thing for a footballer. For the club as well, it would be something we haven’t had too often. That’s why we want to take this final step tomorrow,” the Spaniard said with determination. The 42-year-old, who reached the 2016 DFB Cup final with Bayern Munich but didn’t feature due to a rib injury, also spoke of the atmosphere. “The cup final in Berlin is special. I have fond memories of it. The atmosphere is really special, almost comparable with a Champions League final. The players want that, and we all want to experience it.”
However, Alonso also warned of a hungry opponent. “They’ve got good momentum in the league right now, a very good coach, and have been playing together for a long time. They absolutely deserve to be in the semi-finals,” the coach stated. He also described Fortuna as brave and dynamic: “It’ll be very intense. They’ve very flexible, can play with possession but can also be compact and look to counter. They’ll come here very excited, but same with us.”
Alonso has very nearly a full squad at his disposal for Wednesday. “It’s a super situation. Everyone except Arthur is in,” he confirmed. That means Exequiel Palacios and Victor Boniface are both back. Alonso said of the Nigerian striker: “Boni has trained very hard and has proven a strong mentality to come back. He can hardly wait to be back on the pitch.”
The BayArena is obviously sold out for Wednesday. Alonso is once again looking forward to an amazing atmosphere on home turf. “We need the support of our fans tomorrow to take this big chance. We can feel their excitement. It’s in the air. The fans want to go to Berlin, and so do we. We’ll give our all for that tomorrow.”
After Jens Nowotny was officially named a Bayer 04 honorary captain last weekend, the long-standing Werkself player is part of the Leverkusen delegation on the trophy tour to New York City next week from 11 to 14 September. In an interview with bayer04.de, the 50-year-old talked about his expectations ahead of the trip to the metropolis on the East Coast of the USA.
Show moreThe German Football League (DFL) has confirmed the dates and kick-off times for matchdays 6 to 12 of the 2024/25 Bundesliga season. Full details of the Bayer 04 fixtures.
Show moreMarkus Rehm, a long jumper at TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen, won the gold medal for the fourth time in succession at the Paralympics on Wednesday.
Show moreThe fixture details for the second round of the DFB Pokal 2024/25 have been confirmed. The home tie for Bayer 04 against second division SV 07 Elversberg is on Tuesday, 29 October with the kick off at 18.00 CET (live on Sky). That was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday.
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