
The 49-year-old Argentinian highlighted the strengths of the Werkself: "They are a team with very good players, they play very attacking and fast football." However, those qualities were not decisive in the first meeting: Alvaro Morata came off the bench to score the only goal of the game on 78 minutes for the Spanish side with a header.
The 27-year-old could well be in the starting line-up with his four goals in the last four games as could central defender Mario Hermoso, who said at the press conference: "We want to play and we’ll treat the match as if it's a final." And moving the pre-match training session from the BayArena to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium, due to it being the fourth home match in twelve days, was not a negative factor for the Madrid side. "We've heard we won't be able to train in the stadium tonight. But that doesn't bother us. Our mentality is good," said the 24-year-old summer signing Hermoso, who played for Espanyol last season.
Simeone looked at an aspect of the game that has occupied the Werkself for several matches: conversion of chances. "I can explain one situation after another to you as reasons why we haven't scored. But what we are really missing is clinical finishing," declared the Argentinian.

Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 0-2 loss at 1. FC Nürnberg on Matchday 8 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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After nine points from their first three away matches of the 2026/27 season, the Bayer 04 Women suffered their first away defeat on Sunday afternoon. The 2-0 defeat away to FC Nürnberg, who were winless before today, represented a setback for coach Roberto Pätzold’s team in the race for the top spots in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. Fany Pronietz scored both goals (62’, 85’) for the home side.
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After six consecutive wins, the Werkself have hit a rough patch: Bayer 04 lost 3-0 away to TSG Hoffenheim. Andrej Kramaric put the hosts ahead from the penalty spot (79'), with Alexander Prass and Max Moerstedt adding to the tally shortly before full-time (89’/90+5’). After ten matches under Carles Martínez, with the Black and Reds always scoring at least twice, Leverkusen failed to find the net for the first time.
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The Werkself still have a score to settle with TSG Hoffenheim: Bayer 04 lost both matches against the Kraichgau side last term – after the Black and Reds had won all the previous five encounters. Leverkusen are currently on a roll and looking to kick off a new winning streak against TSG in Sinsheim on Sunday 25 October (kick-off: 15:30 CET), and Patrik Schick is keen to continue his current run of form. However, it will not be easy, as coach Christian Ilzer’s team have also gained confidence recently. Today’s matchday news.
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