The Black and Reds, currently fifth in the Bundesliga, face a team in East Berlin with an outstanding record at home: Union have won four of their last five home games at the An der Alten Försterei Stadium, all without conceding. “They are a different opponent compared with Dortmund. They have their own strengths, particularly in defence,” said Bosz about the next opposition.
The fact Union Berlin are also the opponents in the DFB Cup quarter-finals in three weeks is not relevant at the moment according to the Dutchman. The 56-year-old said: “I only look at the next game and we have to fully focus on that. And who knows who will be playing for either side in the cup tie.”
The Bundesliga away game in the capital marks the start of a busy period of fixtures over the next three weeks. “We won’t have much time to recover,” said Bosz. The head coach was happy to see recent absentees Kerem Demirbay (suspended), Julian Baumgartlinger, Exequiel Palacios and Charles Aránguiz (all injured) return to full training this week.
It is looking good for the Chilean after his long injury lay-off but it remains to be seen if he will play. “Charly said he didn’t have any problems yesterday. But he hasn’t played since the start of January so we’ll have to wait and see what happens in today’s session. I’ll make my decision after that,” Bosz explained. “Perhaps all four will be available for selection.”
With a win against Union Berlin, Bayer 04 playmaker Kai Havertz can clock up his 50th Bundesliga victory – and all that at just 20 years of age. At the pre-match press conference, the head coach praised the development of the Germany international since the start of the second half of the season. “We’ve all seen that the Kai of last season is back. Against Dortmund, you could see he is very important to the team,” said the Dutchman who was also able to welcome back Paulinho yesterday.
The Brazilian was in Colombia where he helped the Selecao U23 team qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Bosz finished by saying: “That means all players are available as of now. That is very important in view of the run of fixtures coming up.”
Match information:
Referee: Harm Osmers (Hannover)
Broadcaster: Sky (TV) and Werkself Radio (bayer04.de)
Attendance: 21,717 (sold out), including 2,500 Bayer 04 fans
A cracker of a semi-final at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The Bayer 04 U19 team entertain Bayern Munich on Saturday, 10 May (kick-off: 11:00 CEST/stadium opens: 10:00 CEST). In front of a home crowd, the team led by head coach Sergi Runge, who welcomes back an attacking player, is looking to build on the battling performances from the previous knockout games and "perform at the right moment." Tickets are available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the game will also be broadcast live on Sky.
Show moreBayer 04 have now gone 33 Bundesliga away games in succession without defeat and thereby equalled the record set by Bayern Munich: Jonathan Tah netted the equaliser at 2-2 in added time away to SC Freiburg on his 400th appearance for the Werkself. SCF took a 2-0 lead with a strike from Maximilian Eggestein (44') and a Piero Hincapie own goal (48') before Florian Wirtz pulled a goal back on 82 minutes.
Show moreWerkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-2 draw at SC Freiburg on the 32nd matchday of the Bundesliga 2024/25...
Show moreThe Werkself are away to SC Freiburg on Bundesliga Matchday 32. The penultimate away game of the season is today Sunday, 4 May with a 17:30 CEST kick-off at the Europa Park Stadion. Read on for the latest information in today's matchday news.
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