The Dutchman does not want to be fooled by the 6-0 thrashing at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, in which summer loan signing Nikola Karczewska scored a hat-trick. "The Nürnberg team has changed since then," said the coach. "They were still bedding in at that point. Now they've strengthened considerably and have been a bit unlucky in recent games, but they've also shown what they're capable of." As examples of that, he cited the 1-1 draw against FC Bayern Munich and the 2-1 win over MSV Duisburg. The hosts' pace in attack, which includes January signing from Leverkusen Amira Arfaoui, can pose a threat at any time. "We need a lot of energy to break them down," added de Pauw. "It will help us to remember the reverse fixture because we found a lot of spaces in that."
With a training session in colourful costumes on Fat Thursday, the Leverkusen women briefly provided some carnival-like relaxation. "It was a nice change and a lot of fun for everyone," commented the coach. "As a club from the region, it's part of it. It was also a good break from the day-to-day, which provided a new dynamic." Nevertheless, his team trained "seriously and with focus".
After earning a point against second-placed VfL Wolfsburg, Bayer 04 Women head to Nuremberg as clear favourites on paper, but the approach on the pitch shouldn't change. "Obviously Wolfsburg are a different calibre, but we need the same mentality on the field as last weekend," demanded de Pauw. "We want to quickly build up pressure and force Nürnberg into mistakes."
Along with Janou Levels (individual training after hip injury), two other defenders are ruled out with injuries from the Wolfsburg game in Sylwia Matysik (ankle) and Lilla Turányi (minor concussion). Loreen Bender is also unavailable due to a thigh problem.
The game will be broadcast live by paid-for streaming services DAZN and MagentaSport as well as on free TV by SPORT1. The programme begins at 19:00 CET. Fans who want to support Bayer 04 Women in person can purchase tickets HERE.
The date for the Bayer 04 Women's DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie has been set. As announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Wednesday, the Leverkusen Women will play league rivals Hamburger SV on Sunday, 16 November at 15:00 CET.
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A great honour for Eliesse Ben Seghir: The Italian sports newspaper Tuttosport has published the final shortlist of 25 nominees for this year's Golden Boy award - including Werkself player Eliesse Ben Seghir. The award will be presented in November.
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They narrowly missed out on the title in the spring of this year as they enjoyed their most successful season to date under the Bayer Cross. Now they want to build on that success. In an interview ahead of today's start of the new season in the VBL Club Championship by WOW (live on the Bayer 04 app from 18:00 CEST), the two Bayer 04 eSports players and cousins Marc and Sean Landwehr talk about the organisational changes to the VBL CC and their everyday lives as professional gamers and they also give pro tips for the new EA FC 26.
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A Black and Red player in the U20 World Cup final in Chile. Alejo Sarco and Argentina beat Colombia 1-0 in the semi-final on Wednesday night. Morocco, who knocked out France, now await in the final on Sunday night.
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