
Gerardo Seoane on…
… the return of Robert Andrich: He was able to do 70 to 80 per cent of the training session today so we limited the intensity to a certain extent. Now we'll have to see how his body reacts. If all goes well this week he will be available again at the weekend.
…. possible reasons for the defeat against FC Augsburg: In the most general sense it's about making the right decisions. That's the overarching concept for many levels in a game such as build-up play, finishing or making challenges. I think we've already tried to change our game but in many situations not made the right choice. If you don't have that momentum on your side and also are not decisive or patient enough then small mistakes are punished by a clever opponent. A normal performance isn't enough and now we have to go out and earn our success.
… the post-match assessment after the weekend: The team has behaved as I imagined: They had a day off to process the defeat and really shake off their disappointment. That's important. We are always very critical with ourselves including after wins. That's the way we have thought since we arrived here. But then the focus is entirely forward looking and we try to have a lot of constructive discussions with the players to work through different perspectives of how they perceive the situation individually, what was in their minds and why they made a decision at certain moments so that we can find the appropriate approach and then set targets in training.
… the significance of mentality: We have experienced but also young players who are in a different situation from last season. You expect more of them but then perhaps the performances and results aren't right – all of that does something to a player. As an example: There's a huge difference between standing on the ground on one leg or 80 metres up on the top of a block of flats. Everybody deals differently with pressure and has different tools and that all demands a mental process. And everybody is allowed to make mistakes or have an off day. That's also to do with confidence in our players. Experience on its own is no guarantee of avoiding mistakes. The biggest challenge in sport is – regardless of how experienced you are – to achieve momentum both physically and mentally.
… the targets in this week's training sessions: We were incredibly disappointed after the match, without a doubt. But it doesn't help us to lose our nerve. There is no reason to panic but we have to get out of this situation as soon as possible. We did that several times last year and we’ll do it again by getting things right, drawing conclusions and turning our negative thoughts into energy and desire. That's the challenge we want to take on and overcome.

In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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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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