‘Force success on pitch’: Women in Jena after break

2-3 at Eintracht Frankfurt, 1-1 against SGS Essen, 0-1 in the DFB Pokal quarter-final against Werder Bremen and 0-1 at TSG Hoffenheim: After such an impressive Hinrunde good results have been missing from a Bayer 04 perspective. So it was convenient for Pätzold to have three weeks to prepare for the Jena game: “After our less successful phase it has been really good that many of the players were able to have different impressions on international duty and discover new ideas. At the same time, we have used the time to keep on working on our game to get our momentum back.”

Pätzold: "Anything but alarming"

Eleven players were away on international duty after the Hoffenheim game and the Leverkusen Women also used the break for a 2-0 friendly win against Essen. With all the players back at Kurtekotten there was a great mood on Shrove Monday with Carnival costumes worn in the training session. The coach knows how to deal with the recent results and he remains calm. “Our last games were anything but alarming,” said Pätzold: “We should have won the away game against Hoffenheim given our possession and chances. In football you sometimes have phases where the games don’t reflect performances. We benefitted from that time after time in the Hinrunde and now we want to show that we are capable of mastering such difficult phases.”

How will that happen? “It depends on us sticking to our processes, creating more chances and forcing success on the pitch through greater determination,” said the 45-year-old: “Then we will score again and regain the lost fluency.”

Even though the hosts only have three points from 15 games and have suffered eight defeats on the bounce, the Werkself need to take nothing for granted. “They are very disciplined and compact in defence. Many teams, including us, have had problems scoring goals against Jena from open play,” he said looking back at the close 1-0 in the reverse fixture: “We face them with great respect but we want to dominate the game and get our rewards for the great effort over recent weeks.”

Bender back in squad

Pätzold can again call on forward Loreen Bender for this game following her return to the squad after weeks out of action due to a tonsils operation. Melissa Friedrich is ruled out due to a bout of flu. Katharina Piljic (ankle) and Vanessa Haim (back problems) are in rehab training, and Sofia Cava Marin (torn cruciate) is still on the injury list.

Anyone wanting to support the Werkself at the game, can buy tickets for Block J3 in the East Stand at the ad hoc arena in the Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld HERE in advance or from the matchday ticket office. As usual, the game will be broadcast live on MagentaSport and DAZN.