"FC Bayern have dominated German football for ten years. But we've also developed and have grown," said Gerardo Seoane right at the start of Friday's pre-match press conference ahead of #FCBB04 in response to the question of whether his team still had the result of the reverse fixture (1-5) in the back of their minds: "There are no first and second legs for us but instead we are starting at 0-0 tomorrow. It was four and a half months ago. There is a process in being consistent in every game. That's where we are at the moment."
Following the 3-2 defeat at Mainz 05 his team have shown they can now bounce back quickly and produce another top performance on the pitch. The reward for that was the comfortable 3-0 victory against Arminia Bielefeld. "We want to build on our good development again tomorrow," said the Swiss coach.
At the same time, the 43 year-old admitted that against FC Bayern "a good performances is not enough, it needs a top performance." That also requires courageous and smart challenges in defence and at set-pieces: "We want to defend well and we'll have to see that they aren't able to show their attacking qualities."
The head coach of the Werkself is well aware that Bayern have already lost two games in the second half of the season. "Of course, as part of analysing the opposition you also look at the problems caused for Bayern by earlier opponents. But we can't copy that and we have to rely on our own strengths," added the coach as he called for a bold attacking game: "We have to make as many moves up front as possible."
One possible man for that job is Moussa Diaby who has clocked up seven goals and two assists in the second half of the season so far. "He has high technical quality, impressive finishing and dribbles well but, above all, he is ready to learn and be self-critical," praised Seoane.
Missing at the Allianz Arena are midfielder Karim Bellarabi (muscle) plus striker Patrik Schick (muscle injury) and goalkeeper Andrey Lunev (ankle ligament).
There is good news: New signing Sardar Azmoun was able to join in with most of full training and he did not have any problems afterwards. But he still needs number of sessions before being in the starting line-up "to be able to achieve his best performance levels after his injury and Covid- 19 infection," said Seoane.
It remains to be seen if midfield dynamo Robert Andrich will be able to play. The Werkself number eight has been struggling with a knee problem for a few days and he was rested at the start of the week before gradually doing more individual work. Following today's final pre-match training session, a decision will be made on Andrich playing against Bayern.
The final whistle of the current 2025/26 season marks the end of a unique partnership for Bayer 04 Leverkusen. After more than three decades of collaboration and highly eventful times, the Bundesliga football club and the private brewery Bitburger are going their separate ways.
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Around four months after their bitter exit in the DFB Pokal Round of 16, the Bayer 04 Women are once again away to Hamburger SV. On Monday night (18:00 CEST), the Werkself will not only be looking to pick up important points in the final phase of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga at the Volksparkstadion, but also to make amends for their defeat on penalties.
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A simple approach to sport with games, fun and a highlight at the end: Bayer 04 organised a very special training session for 40 participants aged between six and 27 in cooperation with the Football Association of the Middle Rhine (FVM). At the day of action for women and girls with disabilities at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, many of the participants gained their first experience of football.
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On Saturday, 28 March, the lights will go out again at the BayArena from 20:30 pm to 21:30. As in previous years, Bayer 04 once again take part in the WWF Earth Hour campaign under the motto "We're switching off" as the club wants to set a collective example for more climate and environmental protection together with people, cities and companies around the world.
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