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Ten days have passed between the appointment of Hannes Wolf and his first Bundesliga match as head coach of the Werkself. "We've had some very good sessions. We've shown a lot of energy in our work. When you look at the lads there's hope for what’s coming," declared the 39-year-old and he added: "We've gathered a lot of information during this time and broken it down into key aspects."
Wolf, who described his coaching staff around assistant Peter Hermann as a well functioning structure, wants to maintain the playing philosophy of the Werkself with high possession as well as lively play. "But," the Bochum-born coach continued, "phases without the ball have obviously also played a central role in our preparations."
The first opponents for Wolf travel to Leverkusen on the back of twelve matches without a win. The visitors' coach, Dimitrios Grammozis, will most probably again be able to call on striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar for the game at the BayArena. The 37-year-old is set to return along with Salif Sane, Mark Uth and Goncalo Paciencia.
Wolf said about Schalke 04: "You can look at them from two perspectives – by looking at the table or at the squad. They have a lot of good players in their ranks. Therefore, we need to produce our best performance to win the game. And that's what it's about at the end of the day."
While international players like Jonathan Tah and Florian Wirtz returned to Leverkusen over the course of the week, the other Werkself players have been working hard every day since the beginning of the week. Wolf's training sessions normally last 90 minutes plus. Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky returns to the squad after recovering from an Achilles injury and, according to his head coach, is a serious option for the home game against Schalke 04. Wolf: "There is a very high probability of Lukas playing. But we'll talk to him again."
Paulinho and Daley Sinkgraven completed parts of full training but will not be in the matchday squad as is also the case with Lars Bender. Whether Moussa Diaby will return after his Covid-19 infection and self-isolation was left open by Wolf on Friday. It is certain that Charles Aránguiz will continue to wear the captain's armband after the change of coaches. "Nothing will change with the captain's hierarchy. Charly is a very respected player in this club and we definitely won't take the armband away," declared the 39-year-old.
The pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon marked the start of immediate preparations for the first game for Hannes Wolf in charge under the Bayer Cross. The Black and Red squad and team management will come together in the evening for a final pre-match meeting. "It's a question of having the necessary calm but also maximum intensity," explained Wolf who emphasised: It's the second Easter in the shadow of the pandemic and unfortunately there can't be fans at the stadium. Accordingly, we want to make our fans happy by winning the game."
The home game against Schalke 04 is being played against the backdrop of #Morethanfootball – as football is more than just a game. Bayer 04 have recently demonstrated that as part of the #Morethanfootball Action Weeks along with over 100 fellow campaigners from across Europe. Inclusion, integration plus the promotion of social interaction are just a small selection of themes that are an inherent part of the Bayer 04 DNA.
Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and striker Emrehan Gedikli are ambassadors for the Werkself as part of the #Morethanfootball Action Weeks. Hradecky explained: “The love for football made us into professional athletes. Without that passion none of us would be where we are now. We share this passion with millions of football players across the world. A passion that connects us all – on and off the football pitch. We are #Morethanfootball.”
Match information:
Broadcasters: Sky and Werks11 Radio
Referee: The match officials will be announced on the day of the game
Bayer 04 entertain third-placed VfB Stuttgart in the penultimate Bundesliga home game. The match at the BayArena is today Saturday 27 April (kick-off: 18.30 CEST/live on Sky and on Werkself Radio). The latest information on the game, with fans again asked to follow traffic information, is here in the news in brief.
Show moreAfter three consecutive weeks of playing midweek, the Werkself have been preparing for the top-of-the-table clash against VfB Stuttgart over the past few days. Ahead of the home game on Saturday 27 April (kick-off 18:30 CEST, live on Sky), head coach Xabi Alonso praised the third-placed visitors and gave an update on the state of the pitch as well as personnel.
Show moreThere's no question: VfB Stuttgart are one of the biggest surprises of this season and have delighted their fans with exciting, successful attacking football. After suffering a rare defeat at Bremen last weekend, third-placed VfB are looking to get back to winning ways in this Saturday's big match against the Werkself (kick-off 18:30 CEST). The visitors will be without their playmaker in midfield, though. A look at our next opponents...
Show moreWhether at school, in grassroots sports or at the football stadium – racism and discrimination of all kinds are still prevalent in our society. For this reason, Bayer 04 has been organising preventative school workshops on the subject of racism for many years. This week, one of these workshops took place at the Lise-Meitner-Gymnasium not far from the BayArena as part of the Wiesdorf district matchday - and with a prominent guest: Werkself star Jonathan Tah worked intensively with the pupils on the topic. The German champion and international also spoke about his personal experiences with racism.
Show moreBayer 04 aren’t just the new champions of Germany but are also leading the way in engaging young fans after becoming the first Bundesliga club to release its own Pixi children’s book. Captain Lukas Hradecky and Josip Stanisic presented the 24-page publication entitled ‘Ein neuer Löwe für die Werkself’ (A new lion for the Werkself) at a reading for children in the BayArena's Schwadbud.
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