Jeremie Frimpong was the Bayer 04 player who took part in the press conference, with Carl Starfelt as the Celtic player representative. The Swedish defender said: “Leverkusen have an amazing team. They’ve had a great start to the season and have a lot of very good players in their ranks. It’ll be a tough test for us, but we know we’re very strong at Celtic Park. So, we’ll go out there tomorrow evening and enjoy this great challenge.”
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou added: “Every match is a challenge. And when you want to progress, home games are key – regardless of other results. We’ve got a great evening ahead of us.”
UEFA have appointed Italian Marco di Bello to referee this fixture. The 40-year-old made his debut in Serie A back in 2012. He’s never overseen a Leverkusen game before but has previously come across midfielder Nadiem Amiri. The Werkself man started the Germany U21’s 2-1 win over England in March 2019 with Di Bello at the whistle.
Hradecky & Co. will have some support among the fervent Celtic Park faithful. Around 200 Bayer 04 fans have made the trip to Glasgow. Great to have them along!
The opponent may be different but the hotel is the same. The Werkself are again staying near Glasgow’s main station, which was also their base when they earned a 3-1 win at Rangers in March last year.
There was a nice story for the travelling Werkself in the local papers. The Scottish Sun had spoken with Michael Henke – Ottmar Hitzfeld’s assistant when Bayern Munich won the Champions League in 2001 – about Leverkusen’s current form. “They’ve showed very good performances so far. Everything points to them winning. Their performances are a little surprising because they brought in a coach not really known in Germany and have a young team.”
The 64-year-old also spoke about Florian Wirtz: “He’s only 18 but has already scored five goals and got five assists. He plays so nonchalant, like he was a mature player and had many years of experience as a professional footballer.”
It’s been very much Patrik Schick’s year after his five goals for the Czech Republic at the Euros. The 25-year-old has now also started the season in fine scoring form with the Werkself, netting four times in six games in the Bundesliga. No surprise, then, that former Germany international Stefan Effenberg has named the Bayer 04 man in his top 10 strikers in Europe right now. Top of the pile was Robert Lewandowski, with Schick in eighth.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen continue the journey with Business Club partners Conrad Conrad Profistore Hürth with a 12-month contract extension to the end of the current 2024/24 season. The scope of the partnership has also been extended. The Conrad Profistore in Hürth has been working with the champions of Germany and DFB Pokal winners since January 2024.
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The sports tribunal of the German Football Association (DFB) has rejected Bayer 04's appeal against a replay of the Women's Bundesliga match at SC Freiburg (3-2). That's the outcome of a hearing at the DFB Campus in Frankfurt on Tuesday. Originally, SC had lodged an appeal against the match result.
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The Werkself have begun preparations for the home match against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday 19 October (15:30 CEST). Following a behind-closed-doors session at the start of the week, Xabi Alonso and his team worked in front of fans on Tuesday.
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Werkself players Nordi Mukiele and Niklas Lomb attended the Bayer 04 Football School on Tuesday afternoon. In the first week of the autumn half-term, the new signing and the long-serving goalkeeper answered numerous questions from over 100 young footballers at the kids press conference. After the round of questions, there was of course a group photo as well as an autograph session, where the duo didn't leave a single kit or boot unsigned.
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The Werkself visit VfL Bochum on Bundesliga Matchday 10. The game kicks off at 15:30 CET at the Vonovia Ruhrstadion on Saturday 9 November. Details on how to get tickets.
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