There were quite a few question marks in terms of personnel at Bayer 04 Leverkusen during the week. On Friday, Bayer coach Gerardo Seoane confirmed that he will be able to call on attacker Patrik Schick again. However, his striker Lucas Alario will continue to be absent.
Julian Baumgartlinger, Lucas Alario, Mitchell Bakker and Thimoty Fosu-Mensah: Bayer 04 Leverkusen will still have to do without this quartet. “These players are injured, the others are available at the moment “, Seoane said at the press conference for Saturday’s home match against VfL Bochum.
Conversely, this also means that Patrik Schick has at least made it into the matchday squad. The Czech attacker returned to training on Wednesday after his ankle injury. However, he only trained on a reduced scale after his three-week break, so the Czech will not be an option for the starting eleven.
Wirtz shows a tendency “in the right direction “
The Swiss coach left it open whether Florian Wirtz will start. The young star trained with the team for the first time again on Wednesday after groin problems. “He didn’t feel any pain in the sense that he couldn’t go tomorrow,” Seoane reported. True, the area where Wirtz had his problems was “not without problems “, Seoane said. “But the most important thing is the physical condition and that looks very positive and going in the right direction. “
Alario not increasing workload until start of next week
Alario, on the other hand, will definitely not be available. It is planned that the Argentine, who has been back on the pitch for three days, will increase his training workload at the beginning of next week. Seoane was unable to predict whether Alario would then already be an option for the Europa League match against Celtic Glasgow next Thursday evening or only on the following Sunday in the top match at RB Leipzig. “That remains to be seen “, said the Swiss, who is hopeful that the centre-forward will return soon: “”He has no more complaints – and that’s a good sign. “
Seoane warns of Bochum: “It won’t be easy”
Bayer Leverkusen coach Gerardo Seoane.
After four Bundesliga games without a win recently, the turnaround is to be achieved with a win against Bochum. “Of course we always want to score in a home game,” said Seoane, “preferably also win.” However, the Swiss also warned against the “compact” promoted side: “It won’t be easy.” But his team is also going into the game with a good feeling in view of the last two games: In the 4:0 in the Europa League against Real Betis, his team was convincing in terms of play, and in the 1:1 against Hertha, the mentality was right. Now it’s time to reward himself with three points in the league against Bochum: “Results are always important for all teams, because results reflect the performance.
