For a long time, trips to Wolfsburg invariably ended in disappointment for Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The club failed to pick up a single point from their six Bundesliga visits to VfL’s former home, the Stadion am Elsterweg, including one particular match on 19 December 2001 when they travelled to Wolfsburg as league leaders. As was the case nearly 22 years ago, Bayer are sitting pretty at the top of the table ahead of the teams’ latest clash at the Volkswagen Arena  on Saturday 21 October (kick-off 15:30 CEST). 

The 22-year-old is good friends with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland from their time together in Austria.

You played an outstanding game, making an incredible 24 saves, and won the bronze medal. How was the experience for you?
“First of all, I am very pleased with my performance, but even more so with the performance of the team. After the semi-final, when you miss out so narrowly and unluckily, you have to recharge yourself mentally. Despite that, it didn’t take long for everyone to realise that we wanted to get third place. And that’s why I’m very proud of the whole team for putting in a performance like that.”

Borussia win 4-1 in St. Truiden friendly Borussia won 4-1 in a friendly against Belgian top...

You could tell from Marco Friedl’s interview in the Mixed Zone that he really wants to lead the way for his team as captain. The Austrian battled on for the vast majority of the 3-2 home defeat against TSG Hoffenheim in spite of the pain caused by his stomach muscle injury. “I know when I reach the point where I’m doing myself and the team no good,” explained Friedl, who eventually came off in the 83rd minute. “The international break has come at a really fortunate time for me to get back in the full swing of things next Monday.”

FCA head coach Enrico Maaßen was forced to make a change to his starting line-up due to Ruben Vargas’ adductor injury, meaning Dion Beljo was handed his place. There was then another alteration at short notice after Kevin Mbabu pulled up in the warm-up. Robert Gumny moved up from the bench as a result.

Aside from Bayern, AC Milan, Benfica and Chelsea also advanced in the Champions League — however, with the Bavarians’ qualities, it seems foolish to believe any of these sides would be able to properly challenge Bayern in a quarter final match. On the other hand, any of Real Madrid, Manchester City and Napoli —will provide tough competition to Bayern should they advance.

The SC coach also highlighted other factors that could be of importance in the home game against Bundesliga runners-up Dortmund during the press conference on Thursday, such as “being alert individually” and “working well as a team”. The sides that BVB have played so far this season (Köln, Bochum and most recently Heidenheim) have set a good example. “Of course, we have seen a few things in their games that we think that we can use,” stated Streich. “Only getting a draw at home against a newly-promoted side is obviously an extremely unsatisfactory result for Dortmund.”

Approximately 300 organisations were called upon to put forward their big and small initiatives for more sustainability. Twenty organisations were selected that have proven through their initiatives that they also live by the “Zero Waste” philosophy.

Opener against Union chosen as Bundesliga Goal of the Month | The Dutchman has also been nominated for Rookie of the Month