Three Black and Red players are unavailable for this clash. Karim Bellarabi and captain Lars Bender are back on the pitch after injury but are not yet involved in full training. Central striker Lucas Alario also misses the match with his yellow card at Schalke leading to a one-match ban.
"If no more babies are born tonight then everybody else should be available for the squad," said head coach Peter Bosz with a smile at today's pre-match press conference. The Dutchman was making reference the birth of Leon Bailey’s son Leo on Sunday morning that led to his dropping out of the game at Schalke 04 late on
With three games to play, the late point in Gelsenkirchen means the Werkself hold all the aces in the battle to qualify for Europe's elite club competition. "But to keep it in our hands we have to win three times – and that starts tomorrow against Köln," declared Bosz.
To come out on top in the game against the Goats, the head coach believes it needs a "top performance". The 56-year-old added: "We have to be on top of our game – regardless of whether it's a home or away match – and whether fans are there or not. I'm completely confident we can achieve that tomorrow."
FC Köln have not won a single match since the Bundesliga restart and lost 2-1 last time out against Union Berlin. "The fact Köln have not won after the break due to the coronavirus pandemic is not important. The same applies to Schalke 04 and we all saw what happened in the end," warned Bosz, who also made it clear: "Of course, it's also about making amends for us: It's a derby – that's very important for our fans and for us too. We lost the game earlier in the season because we were poor. We have to be better tomorrow. It all depends on us."
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werkself Radio (bayer04.de)
Referee: The referee will be announced on the day of the game
As part of the joint commitment of Bayer 04 and the City of Leverkusen to volunteering, the annual Volunteer Day took place in the 19nullvier Lounge at the BayArena. Fernando Carro, Bayer 04 CEO, Stefan Hebbel, Mayor of the City of Leverkusen, and club representative Stefan Kießling praised the commitment of the 200 or so volunteers from the region in attendance and thanked them for their impressive efforts.
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After three defeats in a row, the Bayer 04 Women are aiming to get back on track against RB Leipzig. In the home game on Saturday (14:00 CET) at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium, coach Roberto Pätzold will probably be able to count on two key players recently sidelined due to injury.
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The clubs in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga will set up the Frauen-Bundesliga FBL e.V. On 10 December. The clubs have joined together to open a new chapter in the history of German women's football.
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In his 13 years as a professional player at Bayer 04, the honorary captain and record goalscorer made 446 appearances scoring 238 goals along the way. Many of them remain unforgotten, including his header to win the DFB Pokal in 1993. Ulf Kirsten celebrates his 60th birthday today Thursday - and Bayer 04 are happy to take this opportunity to look back on some of the former number nine’s special goals and games. But first of all: Happy Birthday, dear Ulf!
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