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)
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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