The Swiss manager sees the as yet unbeaten third division side as a team with "lots of qualities." The 43-year-old ranks both the Elversberg squad and their style of play as impressive: "They try to get forward but also defend very well as a group at the same time."
Like the Werkself, the Saarlander squad has more or less remained intact. "That can have advantages and disadvantages as we know very well ourselves. On the one hand, you're already well drilled and can build on things but, on the other hand, it's obviously easier for the opponent to work you out," said Seoane and he set a clear target for the first competitive match of the new season: "We take this and every competition absolutely seriously. The DFB Cup is something special, we want to aim for the maximum and excite the fans."
The idea is to primarily focus on our own game: "We need determination and aggression to come out on top," said Seoane.
The Werkself players trained intensively up to Wednesday with the workload reduced on Thursday and Friday, "to stay mentally and physically fresh," Seoane explained before adding: "Of course, there is room for improvement here and there but the team and the way they go about things day by day gives us a very positive impression as the coaching staff."
Seoane almost has his whole squad to choose from for the DFB Cup tie. All players are available with the exception of long-standing absentees Florian Wirtz and Amine Adli. Adli is currently in the final phases of rehab training and he has already been able to complete parts of team training.
Seoane: "The pre-season has been satisfactory without incident and with some good friendlies. I have 22 players who have the ability and the quality to be in the starting eleven and I'm looking forward to an exciting season."
IA total of 1,229 Black and Red fans will make the journey to Saarland on Saturday to support the Werkself at the URSAPHARM Arena.
A day later back in Leverkusen, Bayer 04 invite all Black and Red fans to the season launch at the BayArena (car park P3) from 10.30 CEST. Both the Bundesliga Women's team and the Werkself will be presented on the stage. In addition to a number of interviews, including with the chairman of the board Fernando Carro and the sporting managing director Simon Rolfes, there will be a large number of stands offering a varied range of activities for young and old alike.
Video game producer Electronic Arts (EA) has announced the nominees for the Men's and Women's Team of the Year (TOTY) for EA Sports FC 26. With Patrik Schick and Alejandro Grimaldo for the men and Vanessa Fudalla for the women, there are three Bayer 04 players included. Fans of the Black-and-Reds can vote for each top XI of 2025 from now until 18:59 CET on Monday 12 January.
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The Werkself host Mainz at the BayArena on matchday 24 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The match is on Saturday, 28 February, at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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The long-standing successful collaboration between Bayer 04 and the transport service provider wupsi GmbH has been expanded: From January 2026, 100 wupsi bikes with Bayer 04 branding will be available for hire throughout the city of Leverkusen. They will complement the many existing offers and services that provide key support, especially for fans travelling to and from home matches at the BayArena.
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The Werkself are back! Following the two-week winter break, head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team began the new year with an open session on Sunday. After Robert Andrich and his teammates arrived in Leverkusen yesterday for the official check-in, they got back down to business a day later in front of around 1,200 fans at the Ulrich Haberland Stadion. The report from the Werkself's first session of 2026.
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