Women travel to Union Berlin 'with great respect but also confidence'

The Leverkusen girls returned from their winter training camp in the mild temperatures of Portugal's Algarve last Saturday. "The switch from Portugal back to Germany has gone well, although we have had different personnel in each session because of illness, muscular problems and workload management," revealed Pätzold. "Irrespective of that, it's been a very good week of training. We're glad that it's starting again and we can get back into the swing of matches."

Pätzold: 'convert quality into something tangible'

With below-freezing conditions expected at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei, it's now about putting the main points of the preparations into practice in the Bundesliga. "The friendly against Servette [3-0] tested us in a lot of areas in which Union are strong," continued Pätzold. "It was a good practice for tempo, intensity and hard tackling. In particular, we need to produce what we've been working on in attack, so that we can convert our quality into something tangible. We want to score more goals from the possession and chances we have in the final third, and make ourselves less predictable."

The first chance to do that is against the Bundesliga newcomers from the capital, who currently sit seven points behind the Werkself in ninth place with 15 points from the first 14 matches. "Union showed in the first half of the season that they can be dominant, especially at home, and cause surprises," said the coach. "The reverse fixture, where they pushed us all the way, should be enough warning."

Bayer 04 Women battled to a 3-2 win in their first home game of the season in September. "They have a very physical, running-heavy style of play, and in some areas they have individual top quality in terms of potential. Based on their recent home matches, I don't expect them to shy away." Nevertheless, Leverkusen's own approach is clear: "We're going into the match with great respect but also confidence, and want to earn ourselves a win."

Union Berlin as yardstick

A successful start to the second half of the campaign could give the Werkself some vital momentum in the battle for one of the top spots. "Every team has the aim of coming back from the break with a positive feeling," said Pätzold. "Union can be a good yardstick for all the assignments that are coming up after."

It remains to be seen which players will be available on Friday evening. "There are a number of question marks because of illness and muscular issues, so the squad won't be decided until after the final training session," he confirmed. The definite absentees are Vanessa Haim, who's ruled out for the coming weeks with a muscle tendon injury, along with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll (dislocated shoulder) and Shen Menglu (fitness after cruciate ligament tear).