One day to go before Gerardo Seoane, the Swiss head coach at the Werkself, stands on the touchline at the Bruno Plache Stadium in Leipzig. A crowd of over 6,000, including 500 from Leverkusen, will make themselves heard from the stands on Saturday from 15.30 CEST. "We are all very much looking forward to be able to experience the atmosphere and emotion of the crowd," declared Seoane at the pre-match press conference on Friday. "It feels very different. It will definitely be special, above all for the youngest in the team who haven't played a first-team game in front of spectators before."
Head coach Seoane will have to manage without six of his players in the clash with the fourth tier team from Leipzig. While Jonathan Tah is suspended, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Edmond Tapsoba are still ruled out through injury. Also sidelined are Lucas Alario and new signing Mitchel Bakker with minor injuries. In addition, Paulinho is in the Olympic Games final with Brazil against Spain in Japan on Saturday afternoon at 13.30 CEST. “With the players where there were slight doubts after the week of training, we are assuming they will be able to play," said Seoane.
The Werkself are set to face underdogs FC Lokomotive Leipzig whose coach Almedin Civa described the Leverkusen draw as a "gift". His opposite number Seoane believes there will be a "classic cup tie" at the Bruno Plache Stadium. The Bayer 04 head coach added: "Leipzig will be highly motivated for the tie. We have to go into the game with the same aggression as them and then win the match by the quality of our play."
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werkself Radio
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day of the game
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Bayer 04 face Hamburger SV for the first time in almost eight years. Although the Hanseatic city team are often below par on the road, they are regularly in top form in front of their own fans. In particular, 18-year-old shooting star Luka Vuskovic is proving to be a real bonus for Merlin Polzin's team, both in attack and defence. However, that should not scare the Werkself: Not only was the last defeat against the newly promoted team 17 games ago, but Kasper Hjulmand's players are in with a chance of securing their fifth win in six games against HSV. Today’s matchday news.
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