
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.

Ibrahim Maza joined Bayer 04 from Hertha Berlin in the summer of 2025. The youngster from Berlin developed into a difference-maker in his first season with the Werkself. Find out what makes the highly talented player tick in this very personal interview. Among other things, Maza talks about his Algerian-Vietnamese-German home, the role of his family and the importance of Islam for him both in his private life and in football...
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Bayer 04’s Ibrahim Maza is among the three nominees for the Bundesliga’s 2025/26 Rookie of the Season award. Fans have until 23:59 CEST on Thursday, 7 May to cast their votes in the official Bundesliga app.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 4-0 win at SGS Essen on the 24th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Bayer 04 Women have kept their chance of qualifying for the Champions League alive in the Bundesliga run-in. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team won 4-0 at SGS Essen on Sunday afternoon, improving their record from last season to 14 wins this term. With 43 points, the Werkself equalled another record from the 2024/25 season and at the same time reduced the gap to third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt to two points, at least for tonight. Loreen Bender (4’), Kristin Kögel (41’, 68’) and Cornelia Kramer (89’) scored for the Black and Reds, who dominated the game to record their fourth win on the bounce.
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