Dora Zeller, Irina Pando, Lara Marti, Sylwia Matysik, Lisanne Gräwe, Sofie Zdebel and Julia Pollak were the seven Bayer 04 players returning from international duty in the middle of this week. That does not leave much time for the septet to prepare for the next opponents as the Feifel team are in action against TSG Hoffenheim on Sunday in the DFB Cup Round of 16. The 19-year-old Pollak will not be in the squad. "Julia returned with muscular problems and is unfortunately unavailable," explained the Leverkusen coach.
Bayer 04 have only lost one game this season. The Black and Reds have picked up 15 points from six games in the FLYERALARM Women's Bundesliga. The last round of the DFB Cup brought a 3-1 away win at RB Leipzig. "Wins obviously boost confidence and inner belief in success," said Feifel before adding: "Nevertheless, we need to keep our feet on the ground and improve in training week by week. In matches it's a matter of carrying on playing together as a team."
That also applies to Sunday as TSG are a top side visiting the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. "They are," underlined Feifel, "an absolute top team with international class. They have a very good squad with a lot of individual quality and recently have also impressed on the European stage." That makes it even more important for the Bayer 04 players to be able to transition from compact defending. "We have to be prepared for anything against Hoffenheim," declared Feifel. "It will depend on us working passionately off the ball and showing aggression."
The coach also demanded his team be clinical in front of goal: "We need determination, high tempo and efficient conversion of chances to be able to hurt the opposition." And then ideally go through to the next round.
Anybody unable to watch the match at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium but who would like to cheer on the Bayer 04 Women in front of a screen can do that on the club’s YouTube channel. The broadcast starts at 14.55 CEST.
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