The Werkself visit Budapest – text updates

+++10 December, 10.25 CET+++

The Europa League trip to Budapest is drawing to a close. The Werkself will soon be en route to the airport in Budapest to catch a flight to Cologne/Bonn Airport around midday. From there, they will make their way to the BayArena and the training ground.

+++8 December, 18.54 CET+++ 

Following the press conference, Gerardo Seoane and Karim Bellarabi made their way to the dressing rooms in the Groupama Arena and then joined the other players and coaches in making their way onto the pitch – the final pre-match training session started at 18.30 CET. Jonathan Tah and Co. began an extended warm-up routine in freezing but dry weather. That was followed by drills with the ball.

+++8 December, 18.21 CET+++

The press conference is over. Head coach Gerardo Seoane declared: "The previous meeting was difficult not just because of going behind early on (on eight minutes, ed). It was a tough game and I'm expecting an evenly balanced match tomorrow as well." Karim Bellarabi, who was also on the podium at the media centre at the Groupama Arena, added: "We've got four matches left before the winter break we want to give 100% in every game. I'm happy I'm fit again and I want to give my all tomorrow."

+++8 December, 16.29 CET+++

The Werkself can rely on Black and Red support at the venue tomorrow night in their sixth and final Europa League group match: 342 away tickets have been sold. Most of the Bayer 04 fans arrived today (Wednesday) and they were able to get first impression of the city on the Danube with a walk through the town. Budapest is divided into 23 districts and is home to 1.7 million people. The most famous sites are the Parliament building, the Chain Bridge and the Castle Quarter.

+++8 December, 14.35 CET+++

The players retire to their hotel rooms for a short rest before heading to the final training session at the Groupama Arena in the early evening. Head coach Gerardo Seoane and Karim Bellarabi will set off for the venue earlier - They will be available for questions from the travelling journalists and those remaining at home at the official pre-match press conference. The statements from the duo as well as impressions of the following Werkself training session will be available on bayer04.de as well as on the Bayer 04 app.

+++8 December, 12.53 CET+++

Bayer 04 have landed in Budapest. The delegation including the two managing directors Fernando Carro and Rudi Völler had a slightly turbulent but pleasant flight that lasted 90 minutes. The team, coaches and staff now head to the team hotel in the centre of the Hungarian capital.

+++8 December, 10.44 CET+++

The Werkself arrive at Cologne/Bonn Airport. The squad for the trip to Budapest: Andrey Lunev, Niklas Lomb, Maximilian Neutgens - Panagiotis Retsos, Jonathan Tah, Odilon Kossounou, Paulinho, Robert Andrich, Nadiem Amiri, Edmond Tapsoba, Lucas Alario, Moussa Diaby, Charles Aránguiz, Daley Sinkgraven, Exequiel Palacios, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli, Piero Hincapie, Emrehan Gedikli, Karim Bellarabi.

Skipper Lukas Hradecky plus Patrik Schick and Florian Wirtz have not travelled. The trio have been given a break. Also missing is the suspended Kerem Demirbay, the injured Julian Baumgartlinger and Mitchel Bakker plus Timothy Fosu-Mensah. The Dutchman was not included in the Europa League squad as it was unclear how long he would be sidelined after his torn cruciate in the summer.

+++8 December, 10.12 CET+++

Sporting director Simon Rolfes spoke before the departure from the Cologne/Bonn Airport: "Regardless of the players staying at home, we will see a strong Leverkusen team on the pitch tomorrow night. We only have four more games before the winter break and we want to win as many as possible. Therefore, it's an important game for us. On this tour it's about points, about winning.”

+++8 December, 09.04 CET+++

The table in Europa League Group G looks good from a Black and Red perspective: The Werkself have picked up 13 points in the first five games. This impressive return has put the team under head coach Gerardo Seoane in top spot. As none of the other three teams can overtake them on the sixth and final matchday, Bayer 04 have not only won the group but also qualified for the Round of 16. The background: The new structure of the Europa League means all the clubs finishing top of their groups skip the next group stage while the second-placed teams meet the third-placed sides from the Champions League. Seoane made the situation clear in spite of this structure: "We want to use every game to drive forward our development and achieve the best possible result."