The team under head coach Peter Bosz have four days to go before the return to picking up points in the Bundesliga. The Black and Red squad have been based at the Hotel Große Ledder in Wermelskirchen since Monday night and have only left the site for training sessions at Bismarckstraße. The seven-day quarantine is required by the hygiene and health and safety concept of the DFL and a precondition for resuming the Bundesliga campaign. “I’m confident about the DFL concept. And everybody who had second thoughts about starting to play again has always had an answer,” said Tah in an online press conference.
The first weeks after the suspension of play at the start of March saw the Germany international and his teammates train at home. Tah and Co. returned to the training ground on 1 April, albeit in small groups at first. The Werkself have only been back in full training since 7 May. But the short run-in to the restart is not worried ahead of the restart. “In my opinion, every single player, who calls themselves a professional, should behave accordingly. That involves a healthy diet, good regeneration and professional training,” said Tah. “We had a lot of time in the break to do preventive work and get ready for the restart. So I’m in good shape.”
The central defender sees himself and the other Bundesliga players obliged to adhere to the hygiene and health and safety regulations. Tah adds: “We have a great responsibility; people at home and abroad will be watching us. Of course, you feel a bit of pressure. But we should be proud of being in a position to start again. This time has made you aware of things you’ve taken for granted in the past and value them much more.”
With a few days to go before the league restart, it is time for return of anticipation for the forthcoming games. “Even though the fans won’t unfortunately be there, our targets remain the same as before the games were suspended,” declared the 1.95 metre giant. You have to try and maintain commitment in training sessions and simulate the games coming up as best we can. Tah believes he will gradually come to terms with playing behind closed doors, “but I don’t want to get used to it.”
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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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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Hamburger SV and Bayer 04 meet again in the Bundesliga for the first time in almost eight years. This Tuesday evening, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET), the promoted team with impressive home form welcome the Werkself to the Volksparkstadion to round off the Hinrunde. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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