"The team didn't just produce a brilliant tactical performance with a man down at Stuttgart. The spirit, the mentality – we have positive memories of that game," said Gerardo Seoane looking back at the 3-1 win at VfB. The Werkself played with ten men for an hour in last Sunday's match after Robert Andrich was sent off.
It was an energy-sapping and intensive clash for Bayer 04 at Stuttgart. However, in contrast to the next few weeks, there was no game in the Europa League or the DFB Cup so Patrik Schick and Co. were able to recover in their own time. That means Seoane has all the players available from the squad for the Stuttgart game with the exception of the suspended Andrich.
Edmond Tapsoba, who has been back on the training ground for the past few days, is still sidelined along with Julian Baumgartlinger, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Exequiel Palacios and goalkeeper Niklas Lomb.
The biggest plus for the visitors from Mainz this season is their strength in defence: The team under head coach Bo Svensson have only conceded two goals – the least in the league along with VfL Wolfsburg. It is clear given the stats that a considered approach will be required to get on the scoreboard. Seoane: "We face the challenge of finding solutions to their compact defending to be able to create good chances. It's down to us from the start to produce high intensity and use the width of the pitch to pull their defence apart."
A look at the table, with Mainz 05 level on points with the Werkself in fifth place, is only a "snapshot" for the Swiss boss. More significant are the impressive performances by the next opponents – and that already started at the start of the second half of last term (fifth place in the second half of the season table).
There is no doubt that Lukas Hradecky and Co. face a tricky game against Mainz but they can again count on the support of 15,000 fans. There will be 455 away fans from Mainz. There are still a few remaining tickets for Bayer 04 fans making a late decision to attend the game.
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werkself Radio
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day of the game
The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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