8.12.2021Europa League

#FTCB04: Be ‘serious and successful’ in last group match

The end of the Europa League group phase: On the sixth and final matchday in Group G, Bayer 04 are away to Ferencváros on Thursday, 9 December (kick-off: 21.00 CET). The Werkself are already certain of finishing top of the group and thereby going straight through to the Round of 16. Nevertheless, there are several reasons why the leaders should take the clash with the team at the bottom of the group seriously as head coach Gerardo Seoane and experienced player Karim Bellarabi emphasised at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday evening.

One point is particularly important to Karim Bellarabi: "Some of our fans will be at the stadium tomorrow night. We want to give them a good and hopefully successful game," said the 31-year-old who joined Bayer 04 ten years ago and is a crowd favourite in the Werkself squad.

Head coach Gerardo Seoane added: "Our target was to go through. It wasn't a given that we would succeed in doing that before the last group match," said the Swiss coach. "Now we want to go into this sixth match in a serious manner and continue our great performances in this competition."

Lunev in goal – Trio do not travel

20 players boarded the aircraft on Wednesday morning. One of them was: Andrey Lunev. The Russian new signing will be between the sticks for the first time in a competitive match this season. "But it's not a gift to him, Andrey has earned this opportunity much more through his excellent performances in training," declared Seoane. The 30-year-old shot-stopper has fitted in with the team from day one and always supported the number one keeper Lukas Hradecky. Seoane added: "Andrey does everything to apply himself as best as possible. And his sporting qualities are obviously indisputable. He has a lot of experience and shows great reflexes on the line."

In addition to the injured (Baumgartlinger, Bakker), not yet available (Fosu-Mensah) and suspended (Demirbay) players, another trio remained in Leverkusen: Goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, playmaker Florian Wirtz and centre forward Patrik Schick. "Lukas has played every game since the summer. Patrik is coming back from an injury and Florian has had slight problems recently. With him it's a case of controlling his workload," said Seoane.

Seoane on opposition: "showed strengths in previous meetin"

Ferencváros, currently top of the Hungarian OTP Bank Liga, have won four out of the last five league matches. "We saw their strengths in the previous meeting," said Seoane. In the opening match in the Europa League group stage, the Hungarians took the lead at the BayArena after eight minutes with the game ending in a narrow 2-1 win for the Werkself. The 43-year-old added: "They have fast players up front but also a certain robust approach and strength in challenges in defence. We will again have to do a lot to come out on top."

The coach is certain the Black and Reds will do that to achieve the desired "serious and successful conclusion."

Related News

Bayer 04 - 23.03.2026

Training during the international break

The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.

Bayer 04 - 23.03.2026

Technical maintenance: Online shop and login temporarily unavailable

Due to maintenance work, the online shop and other digital services from Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be temporarily restricted or unavailable from Monday, 23 March (18:00 CET) to Thursday, 26 March. Bayer 04 will provide immediate updates via the club's official channels if the work is completed earlier than planned. The overview.

Piljic per Dropkick ins Glück: Bayer 04-Frauen schlagen Jena | 21. Spieltag

Werkself-TV - 22.03.2026

Women: TV-highlights of 1-0 home win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena

Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-0 win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena on the 21th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.

Women - 22.03.2026

Piljic strike seals win for Bayer 04 Women against Jena

Thanks to a masterstroke from Katharina Piljic, the Werkself secured their eleventh win of the season in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga. On Sunday evening, coach Roberto Pätzold's team beat FC Carl Zeiss Jena 1-0. Midfielder Piljic scored the winning goal with a volley into the corner from the edge of the box (19’) in front of 633 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium - and ensured that Leverkusen moved up to fifth place in the table for at least one night with 34 points.

Bayer 04 - 22.03.2026

Bayer 04 pros Terrier and Quansah sidelined

Bayer 04 will have to make do without forward Martin Terrier in the next few weeks. The Frenchman sustained a muscle injury in his right hamstring in Saturday's 3-3 draw at Heidenheim in the Bundesliga.