Bayer 04 Women ‘can’t just sit back’ against leaders Bayern

The Werkself have had 10 days to get ready for the game following their 1-0 loss away at Werder Bremen. “This has given us new impetus and allowed injured players such as Carlotta Wamser to work their way back into the team. Everyone’s highly motivated after some bad results to get into a good position to hopefully make the second half of the season better than the first. At the same time, we want to end a very successful year on a high,” said head coach Roberto Pätzold. His team come into the game on 22 points, just four shy of third place but with seven points fewer than this stage last season, when there were two teams fewer in the division.

Pätzold: ‘Discipline but also brave’

Leverkusen will need a top performance up against Bayern, who have moved clear at the summit on 37 points. “‘In Bremen, we hardly allowed anything with our work against the ball, which will also be an important factor against the best team in the league. We have to defend with discipline but also be brave in order to be able to compete,” said Pätzold. “We need every point we can get to prevent the gap at the top from becoming too big. Above all, we want to prove to ourselves that we can not only perform well against such an opponent but also take home some points.” The opportunity this presents would be huge: “If we succeed, it’ll certainly have a positive effect on our start to our mid-season training and send a message to the competition.”

Pätzold is also counting on the influence of the spectators. “We've had a few setbacks in home games recently, but we've also played well in front of small crowds. We want to use the attention to encourage the many fans who will be there to support us more often in the second half of the season,” the coach implored. “The first meeting at the Allianz Arena showed what a factor the crowd can be. Hopefully, our fans can now help us in a smaller setting to prevail against a seemingly overpowering opponent.”

That Matchday 1 encounter in the season’s opening fixture saw a crowd of 57,762 spectators at the Allianz Arena – a record for German club football – as Bayer 04 put up a long fight against the defending champions with a disciplined performance, eventually losing 2-0 after two late goals. “We will use that as a guide because we kept the game open for a very long time. The longer it stays 0-0, the more time is on our side,” explained Pätzold, also promising, “But we won't sit back. We'll use our opportunities in attack to keep Bayern as far away from our goal as possible.”

Wamser set to return

Germany international Wamser should be able to help out at least partially after her weeks-long break due to a knee issue. The 22-year-old has been back in team training for the past few days. “She gives us more options to bring on high-quality players from the bench and support the team in what we hope will be the decisive phase. She’s trained well, feels fit and is ready to play. You can already see in training that she brings a lot of momentum with her energy and power,” Pätzold stated. While Wamser is set to return to the squad, Ida Daedelow (knock), Charlotte Voll (shoulder) and Shen Menglu (cruciate ligament rupture) are still out. In addition, the availability of Vanessa Fudalla (muscular) is in doubt.