The 43-year-old Swiss coach acknowledged the 2-0 win for Leipzig away to Atalanta on Thursday night. “It will be an extremely difficult game. We need to find the right balance,” declared Seoane at the pre-match press conference on Good Friday.
The Werkself in third place currently have a one-point lead over the rivals from Saxony who have picked up an impressive 29 points since the winter break (Leverkusen: 24). One of the key players for the Red Bulls is the midfielder Christopher Nkunku. The France international has clocked up 17 goals and 15 assists in the Bundesliga this term – and is the player with second highest numbers of goal involvements in Germany’s top flight behind Robert Lewandowski (33).
“Nkunku is good at dribbling and extremely quick,” said Seoane. “We’ll have to act cleverly against him and the other Leipzig players both tactically and individually in one-on-ones. Covering behind our lines and doubling up on the player in possession – those are really important elements against them.”
Jonathan Tah could feature again after being substituted due to injury in last weekend’s goalless draw at VfL Bochum. Seoane explained that the defender had completed a number of individual sessions and he also joined his teammates on the training ground on Friday. “The workload wasn’t that high today as we worked more on tactics,” said the Swiss coach. “Jona has a good chance of being available on Sunday.”
This week’s training regime was similar for Sardar Azmoun. The winter signing was also on the training ground on Friday and Seoane said of the striker “it’s possible he may be available against Leipzig.”
In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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The Werkself are finally back. On Saturday 8 August, Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign with their opening match. But there’s far more than just a double-header in store for Werkself supporters. True to the motto ‘One day. Two teams. One club’, the BayArena and the Ulrich Haberland Stadium will be transformed into a world of excitement.
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The Werkself continue their 2026/27 pre-season preparations with their third friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Wednesday 29 July (kick-off 15:00 CEST). Werkself-TV is broadcasting the match live and in full in a stream from 14:50 CEST...
After the children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy grilled Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch last week, another group of 20 young Werkself fans gathered at the BayArena press conference room on Tuesday afternoon, 28 July . This time, the kids directed their questions at Tim Oermann and Jonah Berghoff. Defender Oermann raved about his school days, whilst talented midfielder Berghoff revealed to the young footballers, amongst other things, who his favourite player is – and he is also at Bayer 04. To round things off, the pair naturally obliged with all requests for autographs and selfies.
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Bayer 04 are back on the pitch. Following the first training sessions, the Werkself play the first pre-season friendly on Saturday, July 18. The match against Oberliga club Sportfreunde Baumberg kicks off at 15:30 CEST in Monheim am Rhein. Fans unable to attend the match can watch head coach Carles Martínez’s first game in charge for free via a livestream at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app, as well as on Werkself.tv (exclusively for members). Just log on and watch the games live. All the other Werkself preseason friendlies leading up to the 2026/27 season will also be streamed live for free.
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