“Paderborn always try to play on the front foot. That opened up space for us in attack on Sunday. That’s not normally the case against Düsseldorf. We expect them to be more compact and defensive,” Bosz said at the pre-match press conference on Friday. “We’re prepared for that and that’s we’ve worked on in training today and we’ll train again tomorrow.”
Left-back Wendell, who picked up an injury in training on Wednesday, was unable to train with the team today. If the Brazilian misses tomorrow’s training session, “he won’t be in the squad on Sunday,” said Bosz. Charles Aránguiz (muscle injury) and the suspended winter signing Exequiel Palacios are definitely sidelined. On top of that, Paulinho is still on international duty with the Brazil Olympic team. The recently injured left-back Daley Sinkgraven has returned to full training and is available for the clash with Fortuna.
The Black and Reds are second in the Bundesliga away form rankings but at home the Werkself are only in tenth place. “We’ve dropped too many points at home and Sunday gives us the chance to improve the stats a bit,” said Bosz, who is only willing to accept a win: “We have to win the game and we need the points.”
Central striker Joel Pohjanpalo will not be in the squad for the Düsseldorf game. The Finland striker has joined top second division club Hamburg SV on loan to the end of the season on Friday. “Normally, we want to have two players for each position. With Joel, we have three players for the central striker position. That’s why we were able to let him go,” said head coach Bosz in explaining the move. The Dutchman also commented on other potential transfer activity: “We’ve got a very good squad with very good players. So, any replacement also has to be a very good player.”
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky (TV) and Werkself Radio (bayer04.de)
Referee: Daniel Schlager (Niederbrühl)
Tickets: Bayer 04 expect an attendance of 26,000. The matchday ticket office opens at 16.00 CET.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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Bayer 04 put in a brilliant performance to beat RB Leipzig 4-1 on Bundesliga matchday 32 and are now fourth in a Champions League spot. The Black and Reds took control of the game right from the start and, with 75 per cent possession at one stage, took a 2-0 lead into the break through Patrik Schick (25’) and Nathan Tella (45+1’). The visitors initially tried to do more after the break, but the Werkself remained determined and Schick scored his second goal to increase the lead to 3-0 (76'). The Red Bulls pulled a goal back through Christoph Baumgartner (80'), but the disciplined Leverkusen side were not rattled - and certainly not Schick: The Czechia international crowned a brilliant display with his third goal shortly before the final whistle to make the final score 4-1.
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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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