Pätzold focused on “risk management” for Women’s Monday game against Jena

Leverkusen have made an unbeaten start to the season with 10 points from four games, but Jena have struggled so far with just a single point to their name. That doesn’t tell the whole story, though, as their results have all been quite close, with a 2-0 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt, 1-0 defeat at home to Wolfsburg, a 1-1 draw at Freiburg and then a 2-0 loss at home to Essen. “We’ve got respect for how Jena have done things in their first games. They’ve put up a good fight against good opponents. We’ve been warned but also want to play with confidence and extend our run with another home win,” said Pätzold, while stressing that, “There’s no reason to approach the game with a different attitude to the previous games. We’ve worked our way into a good position and want to build on that.”

At the same time, the 45-year-old is expecting the pattern of the game to be different to those so far this season. “We’re aware that the opponent will probably allow us to have the ball for longer periods this time and focus on their defensive work. When an opponent sits deep and looks to counter, it always brings a certain amount of responsibility. We need to play patiently and also have good risk management to not play into Jena’s hands.” It also means that the creativity of his players will be called upon even more: “The goal is to get the opposition moving and then get into shooting positions. We want to keep the game in their half.”

The long rest since the 2-1 win at home to Hoffenheim on 27 September means the Leverkusen Frauen have had a good week of intense training. “We did a performance diagnostic to see their current status and how the players have developed since pre-season,” Pätzold explained. “We also added to the week with individual sessions. And then as usual we’ll focus more closely on the opponent in the days before the game.”

Levels to return

Full-back Janou Levels is back in the squad after serving her suspension for a red card. “We’re very pleased that she’s back because we saw in the first few games how much value she can bring to the team,” the coach stated. “It says a lot about us that we were also able to do well against Hoffenheim without her. We prefer to be spoilt for choice and to be able to choose from the whole squad.” Pätzold is also aware that “the tougher the decisions in picking people, the greater the quality on the pitch”.  Goalkeeper Charlotte Voll has now fully re-joined team training following her lengthy absence after a shoulder operation. Melissa Friedrich (recovery training) and Paulina Bartz (ill) are still out.