Leverkusen looking to end busy spell with a win
Kasper Hjulmand has challenged his Bayer Leverkusen to enter the international break on the back of a win at home after a busy run of fixtures.
Since the October break, Hjulmand’s unbeaten start with Leverkusen came to an end with a 7-2 thrashing against Paris Saint-Germain, while Bayern Munich also got the better of it in the Bundesliga.
Leverkusen bounced back from defeat to the league leader with a 1-0 victory against Benfica in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, marking the end of a three-game away run.
Hjulmand’s side hosts Heidenheim on Sunday (AEDT), and the head coach wants Leverkusen to build on its 1-0 win against Benfica.
"We are focused on this game and naturally we want to win it. I have great respect for Heidenheim, they have performed well recently. You can see their energy,” he said.
“After three away games in a row recently, we're now looking forward to the home game. Our aim is to end this run of seven games in three weeks with a home win.
“Wins like this [Benfica] are always important and a great boost for the development of a team.
“Not everything went perfectly and we can definitely play better, but it was a great fight and I'm very proud of that.
“We now want to play a great game against Heidenheim at our stadium. We are ready and looking forward to it.”
Heidenheim is currently bottom of the league after collecting just five points from its opening 10 games of the season.
Its only win came at home against Augsburg, but it has drawn two of its past three matches in the league, against Frankfurt and Werder Bremen.
