The 35-year-old Dutch U19 head coach at Bayer 04 describes the PSG youth academy as an "enormously strong talent factory". The team from the French capital beat Atalanta 5-1 in the opening game, with Quentin Ndjantou scoring a hat-trick. The following matchday, the attacking player then played in the final phase of the Champions League match against FC Barcelona. "In the Youth League, you never know exactly which players will be on the pitch at the end," Kevin Brok also realises. Youth League match number two for the Parisians ended with a 2-1 defeat at Barcelona, and Wassim Slama was sent off so he is suspended for the game in Leverkusen.
Brok: "clear ideas with and against the ball"
Brok sees the strengths of the PSG youngsters primarily in the "extraordinary combination of strong physicality and athleticism and a high level of intelligence". However, the Dutchman does not want to deviate from his own approach with his team: "In this game we will have to be brave but not naive. We have our clear ideas with and against the ball."
In terms of the players ruled out in all parts of the team, Brok also said "of course it hurts. You always prefer to have all the players on board." Nevertheless, the 35-year-old continues, "a situation like this gives other lads a great opportunity to show what they can do and perform at the top level. It will be a tough task, but that's exactly the kind of challenge we want and love. And you could see from the first two matchdays that we have a really good team."
Live stream on club channels – free entry to UHS
Bayer 04 fans can watch the match live at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium, with gates opening one hour before kick-off at 13:00 CEST. Admission is free. Cashless payments only for food and drinks.
For all those who can't be there, there will be a live stream of the match on bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app. Niko Hartmann from Werkself Radio will be the commentator for the broadcast, which starts at 13:55 CEST.
