Bayer aim to bounce back in the Black Forest

Bayer Leverkusen will be looking to quickly put Tuesday’s disastrous performance against Wolfsburg behind them and move back into the top four at Freiburg on Friday night.

Hosts SC Freiburg can also close in on a European spot with a win under the lights. Four of the last six meetings between these two teams in Freiburg have finished 0-0, but another goalless draw is unlikely with victory vital to both with only six matches of the season remaining.

Where they stand

Having fallen out of the top four on Tuesday, Bayer can move back up to third with a third consecutive away victory at the Schwarzwald Stadion, ahead of Saturday’s fixtures.

In their last two games on the road, Leverkusen came out easy 4-1 victors at second bottom Werder Bremen and then earned an impressive 3-1 triumph at Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Star striker Kai Havertz (centre) shares an elbow bump with Daley Sinkgraven after a goal during Leverkusen’s win at Mönchengladbach (credit: Sky Sports)

An embarrassing 4-1 defeat at home to Wolfsburg last time out brought Peter Bosz’s boys back down to earth with a bang, but they’ll be hoping their disappointing performance was a mere bump in the road.

Freiburg, on the other hand, have been on a really poor run in their last ten games (2-3-5) and remain winless since the coronavirus shutdown.

They gained a point in an exciting 3-3 draw at an equally out-of-form Eintracht Frankfurt on Tuesday and currently sit eighth, four points and two places away from a Europa League spot.

A much-needed victory for the hosts would pile the pressure on the teams above them and it could be on the cards, given there hasn’t been an away win in the last 13 league matches between these sides.

But earlier this season Freiburg had to ride their luck to hang on for a 1-1 draw in Leverkusen and playing behind closed doors seems to have handed a big advantage to away teams in the Bundesliga since the restart.

Team news

Kevin Volland and Lars Bender will again miss out for Bayer, with ankle and foot injuries respectively. Sven Bender is one of several fitness doubts after a busy week.

For the hosts, French midfielder Yoric Ravet is still out with a long-term muscle injury, whilst Janik Haberer’s ankle recovery continues and he is unlikely to feature. Lukas Kübler and Florian Kath are still lacking fitness and remain doubts.

Managers

Christian Streich (credit: Kicker)

Freiburg head coach Christian Streich has said he hopes his team “will again have a good efficiency in front [of goal]” after they “consciously chose the risk of being very offensive” in their 3-3 midweek draw at Frankfurt.

Having reached 38 points with six matches still to play and free from any hint of relegation worries, he wants his side to look up the table and play with freedom.

He continued: “We can actually be relatively liberated, facing forward and without the pressure. Perhaps we can create something special out of positive energy on the pitch. That is our goal.”

He anticipated rotating his squad at the end of the three-game ‘English week’ though. Streich said: “There are several variants, both tactically and in the individual line-up. It may well be that we change individually in some positions.”

On Leverkusen’s star man Kai Havertz, he added: “It is a pleasure to watch him. He swims between the lines.

“I would be interested to know what kind of pulse he has – certainly half as high as mine.”

Leverkusen boss Peter Bosz urged his side not to be derailed by the defeat against Wolfsburg, ahead of their trip south.

He said: “We played well and successfully for months. Now we have lost a game, but nothing more. We have played badly, but we know that we can do better. It is up to us to show that.”

The former Dortmund and Ajax manager was also glad of the quick turnaround.

He added: “After defeats it is always good for players when the next game is due shortly afterwards.

“For us it means: check off and look ahead. We have only briefly discussed [Wolfsburg] and then put the focus on Freiburg.

“[But] not everyone [in the squad]takes the short breaks equally well, especially since our game is very physical.”