Rolfes expects lion’s den in home game against AS Roma

The anticipation amongst Bayer 04 fans ahead of the second leg in Leverkusen has been massive for weeks. All available tickets for the clash with AS Roma were sold out in 19 minutes in the middle of April. The fans of the Werkself will be getting in the mood together for the home matchday. There will be a reception for the team bus on Bismarckstraße 90 minutes before kick-off around 19.30 CEST and the ‘Kreativ Schwarz-Rot e.V.’ club has come up with a very special idea.

final training session at the BayArena

The Werkself completed the final pre-match training session at the BayArena on Wednesday afternoon under head coach Xabi Alonso.

In bright sunshine, goalkeeping coach David Thiel worked with Lukas Hradecky, Niklas Lomb and youth keeper Maximilian Neutgens. A total of 19 outfield players including Jonathan Tah and Florian Wirtz, along with U19 player Ayman Aourir, completed a warm-up routine and several passing drills in front of a large number of members of the media. After the 15 minutes of open training, the Werkself continued working on tactics behind closed doors.

Missing from the group were the injured outfield players Odilon Kossounou, Karim Bellarabi, Patrik Schick and Robert Andrich. The latter underwent a successful operation on his left foot on Tuesday and he will be able to support the Werkself at the BayArena tomorrow night.

18 May. a date to remember

At the final training session at the BayArena, sporting managing director Simon Rolfes talked about “great confidence. We are playing at our stadium in front of our fans. The atmosphere in Rome was super but I’m convinced that there will be a very special atmosphere awaiting us tomorrow. It will be a lion’s den!”

The situation is simple: The Werkself have to win. “That’s how we’ll approach the game. With the desire to be there at the decisive moments to score goals,” Rolfes made clear. “We are aware that Roma will be very defensive again. That makes it even more important for us to use our individual quality better than in the first leg and show more presence in our attacking game and, above all, in the opposition box. Then we’ll get good chances.”

And who knows, perhaps Bayer 04 will write club history for a second time on 18 May this year by progressing to the final of the Europa League: The Werkself beat Espanyol in the final second leg in Leverkusen on 18 May 1988 to win the UEFA Cup. Also after a defeat in the first leg…