"Of course, the Pokal game is still at the back of our minds, especially because it was very intense and full of twists and turns," recalls coach Roberto Pätzold: "We had plenty of opportunities there to win the game before extra time, but we didn't exploit our attacking superiority enough." Back then, Julia Mickenhagen cancelled out Hamburg's lead with a wonder goal from 25 metres out, and after several missed chances to net the winner, the hosts finally prevailed from the penalty spot. "This time we want to show our quality on the pitch and reward ourselves with three points," said Pätzold.
After the recent 1-0 home win against FC Carl Zeiss Jena, the coach sees potential for improvement, particularly in his team’s attacking play. Although they showed "good approach work in many phases" against Jena and played a controlled game in the final third, they lacked consistency: "We have to manage to show more dominance and be more clinical with our chances."
He expects coach Liese Brancao's team to be "just as motivated as Jena recently", who are twelfth in the table, three points ahead of the relegation places, and urgently need a result in their fight to stay up. Hamburg have shown in the second half of the season "that they want to play constructive football and show a lot of commitment". Accordingly, the coach expects an intense match: "It will be a hard-fought game where nothing will be given to us."
The Leverkusen coach describes the opponents as a dangerous mix: "Hamburg are not your average promoted team, but they play with a typical promoted attitude." Packed with a number of internationals and characterised by a bold attitude, HSV are difficult to play against, but also show fluctuations. "That's where we have to start and consistently bring our strengths to the pitch." Above all, "high intensity" will be crucial. The Volksparkstadion will also see a quick reunion on Monday with attacking player Paulina Bartz, who joined HSV on loan in the winter and recently scored her first Bundesliga goal in Jena.
Bayer 04 will be able to call on Loreen Bender again after she served her one-match suspension.Juliette Vidal and Shen Menglu (both muscular problems) are doubtful, while Caroline Kehrer (knee), Amy Wrigge (torn cruciate), Charlotte Voll (rehab training) and Friederike Repohl (partial ligament tear) are still sidelined.
If you would like to support the Werkself at the Volksparkstadion, you can purchase tickets HERE. Blocks 16a and 17a are allocated to away fans.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 3-1 win at RB Leipzig on the 25th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Werkself need a win in their penultimate match of the season at RB Leipzig on Monday evening (18:00 CEST) to keep their hopes of third place alive until the final day. After Eintracht Frankfurt lost on Saturday, Roberto Pätzold's side can close the gap on their rivals to two points and leave it all to play for next Sunday.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-3 loss at VfB Stuttgart on Matchday 33 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
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Down to fifth from fourth place despite taking an early lead: in the head-to-head for a Champions League spot, Bayer 04 were 1-0 up at VfB Stuttgart with just a minute played thanks to an Aleix Garcia strike, but ultimately lost 3-1 (2-1) to the more determined hosts. It meant the Swabians leapfrogged the Werkself in the Bundesliga table on the penultimate matchday.
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