Bayer Leverkusen started the season poorly. Now Bruges FC is waiting in the premier class.
Coach Gerardo Seoane and the Bayer pros would prefer to start the premier class with confidence. However, after the cup defeat against third division team Elversberg and four defeats after five match days in the league, that is difficult. Leverkusen can change that on Wednesday with a convincing performance at FC Brugge (9 p.m.) but at least for the upcoming games.
Premier class comeback after 1001 days
“New game, new competition,” was the motto of sports director Simon Rolfes, and coach Gerardo Seoane is hoping for a change to the road to success: “It may be that a different competition can release different energy. Two competitions are often very different. ” That would be Seoane after the 2: 3 home drag against SC Freiburg before the league game at Hertha BSC next Saturday.
The Bayer coach definitely doesn’t need any more negative records. Three points from five games mean the worst start to the season in 40 years. In the preliminary round of the premier class, even a hibernation in the Europa League would be unlikely with such a yield. The last Bayer game in the Champions League took place before the corona pandemic. But the long-awaited comeback after 1001 days does not want to spread the euphoria that one had hoped for.
Strong group with Brugge, Madrid and Porto
Nevertheless, the tour to Belgium is a grateful break from the currently gloomy everyday life for the Bayer pros. “After a loss you want to play as soon as possible to eliminate the disappointment,” said Seoane. Since his team has lost every one of their three home games so far, it should not be wrong for him to have to play away.
Sports director Rolfes sees it like the coach, whom he has recently strengthened despite the bad start to the season: “Sometimes it’s good to have the next game straight away. We want to be successful in the next few weeks. And Bruges is the next chance for that. ” The start of the premier class turns directly into a stress test. In the event of a defeat at the Belgian champions, the chances of progressing in a group with Atlético Madrid and FC Porto would shrink slightly.
Hudson-Odoi will probably slip into the starting XI
But Seoane is hoping for a liberation and “being able to transfer the performance to the championship”. His team meets an opponent whose start to the season, in contrast to that of Leverkusen with six wins in eight competitive games, was quite successful.
After all, there were two glimmers of hope for Bayer against Freiburg. The hitherto unlucky striker Patrik Schick headed his first goal of the season against Baden, and Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was loaned out from Chelsea a week ago, made a remarkable 30-minute debut not only because of the cross to Schick.
In Brugge, the English international will probably be in the starting XI. And together with Schick he could form a new dream duo. “I knew how to play him,” said Hudson-Odoi. How did he know that after so few training sessions? “I’ve been watching Patrik before I was even here.” That could also help in Bruges.
