Ahead of his move to Leverkusen for the 2019/20 season, Moussa Diaby, who was voted Player of the Season by Bayer 04 Club members, played for Paris Saint-Germain for one season – and he was twice in the line-up against Nice (0-3, 1-1). “They have a very good style of play as far as possession football is concerned, like to attack and want to get the ball forward as quickly as possible,” said the 21-year-old at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “I’m confident we can produce a good performance. We want to start with a win.”
While head coach Peter Bosz can call on his winger against the team that finished fifth in Ligue 1 last term, there is a question mark over two players. Captain Charles Aránguiz was substituted due to a knock after 45 minutes in the 1-0 win at Mainz. “We’ll only include him if he’s 100% fit. But that probably won’t be the case,” said Bosz who went on to say about youngster Florian Wirtz (stomach muscle problem): “We’ll wait and see what happens at today’s training session and see how his body is reacted to yesterday’s session.”
One player from the forthcoming opponents from the Côte d’Azur is well-known to the 56-year-old. In 2016/17, Bosz coached the top Dutch team Ajax with Kasper Dolberg in the squad. The central striker is now playing for Nice but the 23-year-old is a doubt due to injury.
With or without Dolberg – “Nice are a very strong team, a good opponent,” declared Bosz. “But we have have our own qualities. Above all, we have done very well in defence up to now and only conceded a few shots on goal. We want to make a successful start to the competition tomorrow.”
Match information:
Broadcasters: DAZN and Werks11 Radio (bayer04.de)
Referee: Fran Jovic (Croatia)
Tickets for the first two Bayer 04 women’s team home games are now on general sale. A week after their league opener away at RB Leipzig, Roberto Pätzold’s side will face last season’s runners-up, VfL Wolfsburg, in the first home fixture on Sunday 30 August (kick-off: 16:00 CEST). Fifteen days later, on Monday night, 14 September (kick-off: 18:00 CEST), the Leverkusen Women host German champions Bayern Munich at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for a top-of-the-table league clash. You can now also select specific seats via the online shop. The latest information on match ticket sales.
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