Bundesliga - Leverkusen hopes for a sustainable boost: "Higher level"
Bayer Leverkusen executives see the Bundesliga leaders on a promising expansion course. "The stadium is always sold out, membership figures are literally exploding and the quality of the team has never been so high since 2005 - both individually and in terms of the breadth of the squad," enthused sporting director Simon Rolfes in an interview with the club on Wednesday. "Of course, the club has always developed over the years. We have reached a new level in many areas. But what's happening right now is something special."
Fernando Carro was similarly positive about the starting position ahead of the Bundesliga restart on 13 January with the game at FC Augsburg. "If we really do manage to achieve something big at the end of the season, that can make a significant contribution to reaching a new, higher level over the years. We have all the prerequisites for this - be it the proximity to our fans, the great professionalism in our organization or the quality and determination of everyone who works here," said the CEO.
After 16 match days, Leverkusen lead the Bundesliga table by four points ahead of record champions FC Bayern Munich, who still have a game to make up. With 25 competitive matches without defeat at the start of the season, the Bayer squad has surpassed the previous German record set by Hamburger SV in the 1982/83 season. The sporting high has led to an increase in the number of members to over 40,000.
However, the team's top sporting position could be in jeopardy as several of successful coach Xabi Alonso's regular players will be in action at the Africa Cup (January 13 to February 11). Nevertheless, Rolfes sees no urgent need to strengthen the squad in the next transfer period in January: "When putting together the squad last summer, we naturally took the Africa Cup into consideration as well as the triple burden and the possibility of going far in the cup competitions. We are therefore absolutely convinced of the players we have at our disposal. There is no question about that. Nevertheless, we will look in the winter to see if there are suitable options to strengthen our squad."
Double interview Carro and Rolfes Bayer squad
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Source: www.stern.de
