3-0 against Servette FCCF: Women impress at end of winter training camp

"It was an all-round successful friendly against the top team from Switzerland," said Pätzold: "They challenged us a lot and we brought many things to the pitch that we will also need in the coming weeks. It was a very aggressive and physically demanding game. We were absolutely convincing in terms of our play, especially in the first half. In the second half, the game became a bit more disorganised." That did not change his assessment of his team's performance. "It's clear that you get fatigue at the end of a training camp. That's why our technical execution was a bit below par," said the coach: "But we put up a good fight against a team that improved in the second half and we didn't give much away. Overall, the result is perfectly acceptable, even the margin of the win."

After the intensive days at the training camp, the coach decided not to use some of the players, who instead worked individually, in order to control their workload. The Werkself were rewarded for their lively start to the game after just four minutes. Estrella Merino Gonzalez put a cross into the middle from the right, Ruby Grant failed to connect but Germany international Wamser hit a low shot past goalkeeper Enith Salon Marcuello to open the scoring. After that, the Werkself continued to control the opening phase for long stretches.

Fudalla scores, Repohl saves penalty

The lead was doubled shortly after that with Merino Gonzalez again the starting point on the right. Her pass was relayed by Valentina Mädl to Fudalla who was left with a simple finish (17'). Five minutes later, Salon Marcuello prevented Bender making it 3-0. At the other end, Wamser cleared a header off the line from the Swiss side's first dangerous corner (26’). After half an hour, referee Nuno Jesus pointed to the spot after a clearance by Selina Ostermeier. Captain Friederike Repohl made an impressive save to keep out Magdalena Sobal's penalty. The two-goal lead remained until the break.

After the restart, substitute Maeva Salomon hit the crossbar with a powerful effort from a tight angle (51'), but two minutes later Bender increased the lead for Leverkusen to 3-0 with a low free-kick hit at the centre of the goal. After that, the Bundesliga side continued to dominate the game and were even closer to scoring a fourth goal than the Swiss side were to their first.

With the rain now pouring down, not much happened at either end in the closing stages. Lumbardha Misni's shot against the crossbar was Servette's last attempt on goal (86'). The game ended in a convincing 3-0 victory for Pätzold's team.

coming up: BundesligA clash at Union Berlin

The Werkself training camp in Portugal ended with the friendly against Servette. On Saturday morning, the team will fly back home, where the last week of training before the start of competitive matches begins on Monday. On Friday, 23 January, the Bayer 04 Women will face newly promoted Union Berlin at 18:30 CET at the start of matchday 15. Eight days later, the first home game of the year will follow on Saturday, 31 January (12:00 CET) against second-placed FC Nürnberg. Tickets for the match are available HERE from the Bayer 04 online shop.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Repohl - Merino Gonzalez, Wenger (Vidal 61’), Ostermeier (Turanyi 31’), Wamser (Mickenhagen 61’) - Piljic (Lindner 82’), Vidal (Friedrich 31’) - Bender (Coskun 61’), Grant - Mädl (Sinani 82’), Fudalla (Wrigge 46’)

Servette FCCF starting XI: Salon Marcuello - Simon, Gimenez, Felber, Bourma - Sergeanthuet, Nakkach - Simonsson, Tufo, Marinelli - Sobal

Goals: 1-0 Wamser (4’), 2-0 Fudalla (18’), 3-0 Bender (53’)

Special incident: Repohl saves penalty from Sobal (30')

Referee: Nuno Jesus