Catch-up game against Bayer 04
©IMAGO
For Hamburger SV, the scheduling of the catch-up game in the Bundesliga against Bayer Leverkusen is still a nuisance. You can “certainly assume that the people involved in our club have already asked again how this came about,” said coach Merlin Polzin before the game against the Werkself on Wednesday evening (8:30 p.m./Sky).
The game on the 17th matchday in January at the end of the first half of the season was scheduled to be played shortly after the heavy onset of winter in the north. But the game was postponed due to the partially accumulated condensation on the roof membrane and the associated safety concerns.
After the 1:2 defeat against Leipzig on Sunday, the duel with Leverkusen and the game against relegation-threatened VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday (3:30 p.m./Sky), the Hanseatic League have to play an unusual three games within six days.
“We don’t want to complain. We don’t want to think about power at all or whether you’re tired or not,” Polzin clarified: “I don’t want to hear anyone say that they’re exhausted.” Hamburg will be without their vice-captains Nicolás Capaldo (abdominal muscle injury) and Miro Muheim (yellow suspension) in defense.
Bayer Leverkusen travels to HSV with Champions League pressure
Opponent Leverkusen has not really got going in the second half of the season, has not won in three competitive games and, as sixth in the table, has to worry about qualifying for the Champions League, six points behind (with one game less). On top of that, the team’s performances have been weak recently.
“We didn’t perform well, we know that. That’s why we’re going to Hamburg to do better,” explained Bayer coach Kasper Hjulmand the day before the game. “We do a lot of things well, but not everything,” said the 53-year-old, whose team will face FC Bayern in the cup semi-finals and Arsenal in the first leg of the first leg of the premier class next week.
The former Danish national coach is relaxed about the emerging criticism of himself. When asked whether he felt pressure because Bayer was lagging behind its own standards, at least in the league, Hjulmand replied: “I don’t have a problem with it at all, that’s how it is in the life of a coach.” The veteran has an average points average of 1.88 in 34 games. The rate of previous predecessor Xabi Alonso rate was 2.14 points per game.
