News in brief: First lap of honour in Nice – Bosz on the system

As with November’s 4-2 win against Hapoel Be’er Sheva in Israel, the Werkself are away again on the Mediterranean coast. Matchday five in the group stage of the Europa League on Thursday 3 December (kick-off: 21.00 CET) brings the clash with the French club Nice – in addition to RTL Nitro and DAZN, this match will be broadcast on Werks11 Radio at bayer04.de plus on the Bayer 04 app as usual.

A fine distinction

Charter flight X3 8904 took off from Cologne/Bonn Airport at 12.44 CET. With a pilot in a very good mood. After the usual information for the 145-minute flight, he had a few words to say to the Werkself. “You only say good luck if you aren’t properly prepared. As Peter Bosz is your coach, I wish you every success." And when the plane had to abandon its first approach to the Côte d'Azur airport due to the landing permission not being provided in time, the captain showed his sense of humour: "That's the first lap of honour for Bayer 04 on this trip." The second attempt went like clockwork with the plane landing on French soil at 13.36 CET.

A first for Türkmen

There were 16 outfield players and three goalkeepers on board. In comparison to the last league match, head coach Peter Bosz has to manage without Tin Jedvaj (illness) and Mitchell Weiser – not included in the Europa League squad. On the plus side, Nadiem Amiri, following his recovery from illness,and Karim Bellarabi, returning after a thigh injury, are back in the squad. In addition, Edmond Tapsoba is also back after his self-isolation last weekend following a positive coronavirus test. Cem-Tuna Türkmen joins the first team squad for the first time. The 18-year-old has been at Bayer 04 since 2009 and is a versatile defender.

Hotel at the stadium

For the game at Nice, Bosz and Co. are based for three days a few hundred metres from the stadium. In the afternoon, the Dutchman together with Jonathan Tah went to the Grand Stade De Nice, as the venue is called according to UEFA. The Leverkusen duo will answer questions from media put via video at the pre-match press conference. Shortly after that, the other Bayer 04 players, coaches and staff members will make their way to the stadium for the final pre-match training session.

Bosz: Too early for speculation

Ahead of the flight to the Côte d'Azur, central defender Tah and head coach Bosz spoke the Bayer 04 TV. The 56-year-old talked about the tactical approach he changed during the short summer break. "We always look to see which players are available with which qualities," explained Bosz. "We changed our system after the departure of Kai Havertz and now play with one instead of two holding midfielders and with two fast wingers." The basic philosophy of getting forward on the front foot remains unchanged.

One point, or preferably three, against Nice would put the Werkself through to the knockout rounds of the Europa League. However, Bosz was unwilling to think about where the Black and Reds would play in Europe again this season ahead of the final matchday. "We want to qualify tomorrow. If we do that then we can look forward to the next round. But it's much too early to speculate now about how far we will go," said the Dutchman.

Hradecky’s striking quote

It was the biggest success in the history the Finland team: For the first time ever, the Scandinavians qualified for the European Championship finals in the spring. The competition should have been played this year in several countries in Europe. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, FIFA have postponed the tournament until 2021. So the Werkself number one keeper Lukas Hradecky still has to wait his first Euro finals. But the 31-year-old is not worried by that. On 17 March he declared: "We Finns have waited for over 80 years to be in the finals of a big football tournament. So a couple of months don't really matter."

The statement by the Leverkusen player describes the huge anticipation probably felt by all Finns ahead of next year. The news agency dpa justifiably includes Hradecky's statement under its heading "The sporting year 2020 in quotes."

In Europe too: VAR from the studio

VAR has been operation in the Bundesliga since the 2017/18 season. Referees sit in front of monitors in the studio in Cologne to support match officials on the pitch. For the first time, UEFA will carry out the same approach in the Champions League with their own the VAR room on Wednesday night. This is in the UEFA headquarters in Nyon in Switzerland. The new concept could be used in the Champions League clash between Sevilla and Chelsea with the former Werkself player Kai Havertz. Previously, VAR officials in Europe were always in mobile studios on site.

In a repeat of last season in the Europa League, VAR will be used from the beginning of the knockout stages. According to UEFA, it will be used in the Europa League from the group stages from 2021/22.

Happy birthday, Kostas!

The Greece international and former Leverkusen player Konstantinos Stafylidis was 27 on Wednesday. The defender signed for Bayer 04 from his hometown club PAOK Saloniki in 2012 but only made one Bundesliga appearance for the Werkself. That was followed by loan periods in England and Greece before signing for FC Augsburg in 2015. Stafylidis has been at TSG Hoffenheim since 2019/20. Bayer 04 wish Kostas a happy birthday.