After the two 2-1 wins before Christmas, the Bayer 04 Women were fifth in the table on 20 points and only five points behind third-placed TSG going into the winter break. The aim now is to defend that position in the ten remaining games in the second half of the season and reproduce the good performances from before the winter break. The first match in 2021 is against Hoffenheim who have won nine of their last ten games – including the match against the Werkself Women. The first meeting on matchday 8 ended in a 5-2 defeat for Leverkusen. Bayer 04 did take an early lead and only conceded the fourth goal on 90 minutes that sealed the outcome of the game.
That is not the only reason why the head coach Achim Feifel is confident ahead of the game. The build-up with friendlies against league rivals Werder Bremen (3-2) and second division Borussia Bocholt (7-0) proved to be a big success. A new striker has recently joined the squad: Fans and the team can look forward to new signing Mina Tanaka. “Mina has a work permit and everything else will be decided after the final pre-match training session,” explained Feifel regarding a possible debut for the Japan international who has joined the Werkself on loan to the end of the season from INAC Kobe Leonessabis.
To get a result at Hoffenheim, the Bayer 04 coach is expecting a courageous performance. “We have to be brave and have lots of confidence going into the game. It will be important for us to be switched on from the start and be aggressive in challenges. You can’t afford to let a top team like Hoffenheim have space or give them time to pass it around. We will try to make the most of our counter-attacks and cause them problems.”
TSG have the top goalscorer in the FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga in Nicole Billa. She has scored 14 goals so far this term. “We’ll try to defend collectively against the player and try to prevent passes getting to her,” said Feifel in setting out his plan. The Black and Reds will have to produce a top performance in the away game at Hoffenheim – “We’ll get our chances if we can stay in the game.”
Sandra Jessen, Nina Brüggemann, Viktoria Pinther, Pauline Machtens, Melissa Friedrich and Pauline Wimmer are all unavailable for Sunday’s game as is Jessica Wich, who is in rehab training following her broken ankle.
Bayer 04 have agreed a loan move for U19s striker Ken Izekor to join Bundesliga 2 club Eintracht Braunschweig on loan for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
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Bayer 04 have agreed a loan deal for Jeanuel Belocian to join fellow Bundesliga club Wolfsburg on loan until the end of the season. The 20-year-old defender’s contract in Leverkusen runs until 30 June 2029.
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After Leverkusen's eSports team spectacularly won the first showdown in the history of the VBL Club Championship last year, two rather sobering editions followed with two early exits. Now, in Showdown Four, cousins Marc and Sean Landwehr have once again made it into the offline knockout phase. And in this phase, Bochum awaits on Monday, 2 February (live on the VBL's Twitch channel from 16:00 CET). Here's a look at their opponents and what might happen next.
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SAB-P GmbH is to become Bayer 04 Leverkusen's first official inclusion partner. The company, which has previously been involved in the club's Business Club, is underlining its social commitment to inclusion with an agreement that runs until 31 May 2027. Among other things, it will be the shirt sponsor of the Inclusion Team from the 2026/27 season onwards.
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The Werkself were impressive in the 3-1 win against Eintracht Frankfurt with clinical finishing and a first half "at a high level" that head coach Kasper Hjulmand draws a lot of positives from. The same should apply to Arthur, who scored for the first time in the Bundesliga. Edmond Tapsoba, for his part, was happy about his 250th appearance in a Bayer 04 jersey. "I think we're slowly finding our feet again," said goalscorer Malik Tillman, summing up the performance. The Werkself review.
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