The brilliant 4-0 win in Cologne in the middle of December was followed by Hannes Wolf, "but we don't want to look too far back in the past but instead concentrate on tomorrow," declared the head coach on Friday. "It's about winning the next derby. And to do that we have to play good football but also display passion and the right mentality on the day."
In addition to defensive solidity, as already shown in Wolf's first game against FC Schalke 04 (2-1) and most recently in the 0-0 draw against TSG Hoffenheim, it is now about creating more chances. Wolf: "We’re at home and we are playing for a place in Europe. Of course, we want to score goals. Tomorrow would be a very good evening for that."
With the opposition, Friedhelm Funkel will be in the dugout again as the FC Köln head coach for the first time at the BayArena on Saturday. The 67-year-old coached the team from Cologne 20 years ago and started his second stint at the club on Monday. Before that, Funkel was the coach at Fortuna Düsseldorf for four years up to the start of 2020. "In that time, he had different approaches to games. Therefore, it will be good for us to focus on ourselves," said Wolf. The Werkself head coach is not expecting FC Köln to adopt destructive and defensive tactics.
Wolf has already experienced games like the one between Bayer 04 and FC Köln in previous points of his career. As a youth coach with Borussia Dortmund he played against FC Schalke 04. In his first team roles at Stuttgart there were clashes with Karlsruhe, and at Hamburg SV the rivals were FC St. Pauli. "I've already been involved in several derbies and am totally aware of the significance of this match. Now it's about Leverkusen coming out on top against FC Köln and increasing our points return to seven with the addition of three more points."
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werks11 Radio
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day of the game
The Bayer 04 women’s team secured a win in the friendly during the international break. Without a total of eight international players, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team defeated Bundesliga 2 side Borussia Mönchengladbach 3–1 at the Kurtekotten Training Centre, thanks to goals from Lobke Loonen (1’, penalty), Caroline Kehrer (41') and Valentina Mädl (66').
Show more
Bayer 04 will have to manage without striker Christian Kofane in the coming weeks. The 20-year-old sustained a muscle injury to his left thigh on international duty with the Cameroon national team during the recent international break. This will prevent him from playing in the upcoming Werkself matches.
Show more
FSV Mainz 05 went into the international break on the back of an away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Currently sixth in the table, the Rheinhessen side – who have been impressive on the road – now aim to continue their good start to the Bundesliga campaign at home when they face the Werkself on Saturday, 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). In terms of squad selection, Urs Fischer once again has more options at his disposal. Up front, the Mainz coach is likely to continue relying on what is currently the league’s most successful strike partnership. The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
Exciting experiences and exclusive insights into the Werkself and the BayArena awaited the young footballers from the BA04 Football Academy Guangzhou in China during their visit to the Rhineland this week. As well as taking part in a joint training session with the Bayer 04 Football Academy, the youngsters marvelled at the Bundesliga club’s stadium during a guided tour. The highlight of the visit was a private press conference with former Bayer 04 striker Stefan Kießling, during which he shared tips from his own career with the young players. On Saturday afternoon, 10 October, the group will round off their visit by supporting the Werkself in the away match in Mainz.
Show more
Fans ask, Carolin Simon answers: As part of Bayer 04’s second Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, the Leverkusen captain took questions from the community. The full-back, who returned to the club this summer after ten years away, set aside an hour and a half for the Q&A session with fans, offering a very personal insight into, amongst other things, her daily life as a footballer and her role as captain, as well as her passion for Pokémon.
Show more
