The birthday celebrations within the squad for Jeremie Frimpong, who is 21 today (Friday), could fortunately be held on the training ground. As usual on this occasion, the Dutchman had to negotiate a tunnel of teammates standing closely together. Frimpong completed this with a smile on his face and without pain in his ankle, which did not look likely after the final whistle in the match in Budapest.
The right-back came off the bench and was brought down in added time and had to leave the pitch before the end of the game. "Jeremie received a heavy blow to his ankle. Fortunately he didn't suffer any injuries to his ligaments. It's looking good," explained Gerardo Seoane at the pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
Seoane, who did not lose any players from the intense match at Ferencváros, is able to focus fully on the away game in Frankfurt. Eintracht have recovered recently and, like the Werkself, won their group in the Europa League. The team coached by Oliver Glasner have picked up ten points from the last five Bundesliga matches. "Frankfurt have come into very good form in recent weeks – not just in terms of performances but also results," warned Seoane.
The 43-year-old Swiss coach on the approach of Eintracht Frankfurt: "They have a ball-winning and physical team and often are very quick in transition after winning the ball just as we are. Unsurprisingly, he identified the key attacking player as Filip Kostic. The Serbian winger has scored three goals and provided six assists in the Bundesliga to date: "He's an outstanding crosser of the ball. We'll have to try and close him down – even if that's not always possible over 90 minutes."
After the "all in all good display" in Budapest, Seoane now has several new possibilities in terms of personnel for the next three league matches within just nine days. Players who have returned from injury were able to pick up important match practice as were others who have rarely started recently. "We have three tough games. We need to have a lot of players available," explained Seoane who is looking for a fourth Bundesliga win in succession.

Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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