The Werkself completed the final pre-match training session at the Grands Stade de Nice in dry weather and temperatures of around ten degrees. Also with the squad are youngsters Emrehan Gedikli and Cem-Tuna Türkmen. The latter has received his first call-up to the first-team squad. Also on the pitch were Nadiem Amiri, Karim Bellarabi and Edmond Tapsoba. All three missed last weekend's 0-0 draw with Hertha Berlin but are now back in the squad under head coach Peter Bosz for the Europa League clash with Nice on Thursday night 3 December (kick-off: 21.00 CET). Bayer04.de provides impressions from the final pre-match training session:
The obligatory pre-match press conference was held before the training session. And the club staff from Nice plus the French journalists were suitably impressed that Peter Bosz and Jonathan Tah replied to the questions from the hosts in French. Jonathan Tah, whose father comes from the Ivory Coast, did not hold back from making the interpreter aware of a slight error in translation. In his usual charming way and not with the verve of a German coach in England – the female interpreter acknowledged the mistake with a smile.
The head coach also communicated in the lingua franca. Peter Bosz played for Sporting Toulon from 1988 to 1991. That city is some 150 kilometres away from Nice and also on the Mediterranean. "I like the Côte d'Azur very much and I really enjoyed my time at Toulon," said Bosz.
Our head coach spelled out the Werkself targets at the press conference. "We want to win again and finish top of our group," said the Dutchman whose team can even afford to lose by less than four goals on the Côte d'Azur and still progress to the knockout rounds. The situation for the hosts is rather different. With just three points to date, there is just an outside chance of progressing to the next round.
"I'll field the best team I can to win this game. We have to work together," said Nice coach Patrick Vieira. Nice are currently eleventh in Ligue 1. In spite of the result (2-6) from the first meeting with the Werkself at the BayArena, the World Cup winner of 1998 was able to draw a couple of positives from his team's performance. "If you look closely at the first game then we were only poor in the final 15 minutes. We just have to play our game."
In addition to his key defender Dante, who used to play for Bayern Munich and Borussia Mönchengladbach, Vieira is also missing striker Kasper Dolberg. Right-back Youcef Atal is also sidelined.
Maurizio Mariani is in charge of the Europa League game between the side from the south of France and the Werkself. The 38-year-old Italian referees Bayer 04 for the first time although he has already been on the pitch with a Black and Red duo back in November: Mariani was in charge of the Nations League game between Austria and Northern Ireland. Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic were in the starting line-up for the 2-1 win for the Austrians.
The match is being broadcast live on free TV. RTL Nitro start their coverage from the studio in Cologne at 20.15 CET. Presenter Laura Wontorra is the host for the evening with the Roman Weidenfeller filling the role of the pundit. Marco Hagemann and Steffen Freund will commentate the game. The streaming service DAZN is also showing #OGCNB04 live.
Black and Red fans can tune into Werks11 Radio from 20.30 CET. Cedric Pick will start broadcasting 30 minutes before kick-off. Unfortunately, his congenial partner Niko Hartmann is unavailable due to illness. Log on at bayer04.de or via the Bayer 04 app.
From the south of France to the south of Poland: Peter Hyballa, Leverkusen U19 coach from 2014 to 2016, this week took over the helm at the Polish first division club Wisla Kraków. Poland is the sixth country where the 44-year-old has worked as a coach. Up to now, Hyballa has coached in Germany, Namibia, Austria, Slovakia and the Netherlands.
The former Werkself head coach Heiko Herrlich celebrates his 49th birthday on Thursday. The Mannheim-born coach took over from Tayfun Korkut in the summer of 2017 and was in charge for 64 matches up to Christmas 2018. Herrlich can also look back at his days as a player under the Bayer Cross: The centre forward joined Leverkusen from the SC Freiburg U19s in 1989. In his four years at Leverkusen, he played a total of 75 Bundesliga matches (six goals) – and won the DFB Cup with the Black and Reds in 1993.
Herrlich signed for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the same year and he ended his playing career at Borussia Dortmund in 2004. Herrlich is currently the coach at Bundesliga club FC Augsburg. Many happy returns, Heiko.
Dirk Heinen also celebrates his birthday this Thursday – he is 50. Before Heinen was signed up at Bayer 04 by the then youth coach Reiner Calmund, he played for the youth team at Rot-Weiß Köln-Zollstock. The former goalkeeper started his career at Leverkusen with the U19 side. He was finally called up to the first-team squad in 1989 and then became the regular first choice shot-stopper.
Heinen played in goal 107 times for the Werkself and celebrated winning the cup in 1992/93 with the Black and Reds including Heiko Herrlich. The Cologne-born keeper was in goal for the Werkself for 18 years from 1981. Heinen ended his playing career at Armenia Bielefeld in 2008. Bayer 04 wish Dirk a happy birthday.
New signing Miguel Gutiérrez has made a good start at Leverkusen and has promptly earned a nomination for Player of the Month in his first few weeks in the Bundesliga. He has scored one goal and provided three assists in four league games. The Spanish left-back has also brought some impressive stats with him to Bayer 04. Issue #56 of the Werkself magazine has taken a look at these figures. ‘Facts & Fun’ with Miguel Gutiérrez.
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With seven points, Mainz 05 are currently joint seventh, level on points with sixth-placed Bayer 04. In today’s head-to-head clash (kick-off: 15:30 CEST), the Werkself must be particularly wary of the clinical Mainz strike duo. For Leverkusen fans who have left it to the last minute, there are still a few tickets available from the matchday ticket office. Those following the Black and Reds from home, on the other hand, have a choice: RTL is broadcasting the match on free-to-air TV, and Werkself Radio is also offering the expert commentary of former Bayer 04 player Falko Götz. Today’s matchday news.
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Back from the international break: On Saturday 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST), the Werkself are away to Mainz 05. Ahead of the clash at the MEWA ARENA against the side currently sixth in the table, head coach Carles Martínez spoke, amongst other things, about the team’s work during the extended international break. The Spaniard also commented, when asked, on a number of squad matters, including Ibrahim Maza.
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FSV Mainz 05 went into the international break on the back of an away win at Borussia Mönchengladbach. Currently sixth in the table, the Rheinhessen side – who have been impressive on the road – now aim to continue their good start to the Bundesliga campaign at home when they face the Werkself on Saturday, 10 October (kick-off: 15:30 CEST). In terms of squad selection, Urs Fischer once again has more options at his disposal. Up front, the Mainz coach is likely to continue relying on what is currently the league’s most successful strike partnership. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Thomas Eichin has been working for Bayer 04 for six years – as Director of Professional Teams since July 2023 – and has contributed to the successful development of our club in many areas. Today, Friday 9 October, Freiburg-born Eichin is celebrating his 60th birthday. We wish him a very happy birthday.
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