There was a change of personnel at the hosts at the start of the season: The club management at Mainz opted to change coaches after the second Bundesliga matchday. Achim Beierlorzer had to go after two defeats in the opening games and assistant coach Jan-Moritz Lichte took over the helm at Mainz 05. The former Werkself assistant coach under Sascha Lewandowski and Sami Hyypiä is looking to get the team back to winning ways – his opposite number Bosz obviously has something to say about that. Mainz have a lot of quality in their squad. It’s down to us to see that it takes another week before that is evident on the pitch,” the Dutchman declared.
In addition to Paulinho, who continues his rehab training following his torn cruciate, Bosz will have to manage without other players following the international break: Summer signing Santiago Arias suffered a broken leg and complex ligament damage to his ankle in a World Cup qualifier with Colombia and is set to be out of action for around six months.
The 56-year-old will also be without the services of Patrik Schick, who is struggling with a muscle injury. With Florian Wirtz, who was substituted in the middle of the first half of the Euro qualifier for the Germany U21s against Bosnia-Herzegovina, there is no evidence of a structural injury to his stomach muscles. The 17-year-old is already on the road to recovery. “But he probably won’t be available for us against Mainz,” said Bosz
In addition, Tin Jedvaj will also most probably have to miss out. The defender was not in the squad for Croatia’s 2-1 defeat against France on Wednesday night due to illness. The results of a coronavirus test proved to be negative and Jedvaj is now feeling better again.
In accordance with the regulations, the players returning from international duty undertook coronavirus tests at the BayArena on Thursday morning. Another round of tests will be performed on Friday morning. If the results are negative then the players can then take part in training and join the Bayer 04 group to travel to Mainz to hopefully play on Saturday and help secure the sixth Bundesliga win in succession against Mainz 05.
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werks11 Radio (bayer04.de)
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day the game
Attendance: 250
Bayer 04 and main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer have shown great commitment to the community as the sale of custom-designed T-shirts for charity in the Fanwelt as part of the “BarmeniaGothaer Brings Joy campaign raised a good €5,000. Bayer 04 matched this sum with an equal contribution. As a result, a total of €10,000 was presented to Edmond Tapsoba for his foundation ahead of the home match against Hamburg. The foundation supports people facing challenging daily circumstances in his home country of Burkina Faso.
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Bayer 04 host Hamburg at the BayArena for the first time since September 2017 on the final day of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season on Saturday (15:30 CEST). HSV are safe in their first campaign back in the top flight after back-to-back wins, but Leverkusen are unbeaten in their last 19 games against promoted teams as they go for the victory they need to have a chance to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. There’s also heavy discounts on food and drinks at the BayArena. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 34 fixture in our matchday news.
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As well as previously confirmed departures, Bayer 04 Women will also say goodbye to Vanessa Haim and Shen Menglu before Sunday’s final game of the season at home to Werder Bremen as the pair leave Leverkusen upon the expiration of their contracts.
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The last competitive match of the 2025/26 season takes place at the BayArena on Saturday 16 May (kick-off 15:30 CEST), where Hamburger SV are the visitors. At the pre-match press conference, head coach Kasper Hjulmand discussed the mindset and the approach for the crucial final game against HSV, among other topics.
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