Bayer 04 travel to Eintracht Frankfurt with their sights set on a return to the Champions League
Bayer 04 travel to Eintracht Frankfurt with their sights set on a return to the Champions League

Leverkusen chasing final flourish in Frankfurt

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Frankfurt - Fourth-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen will look to keep the chasing pack at bay with three points against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday (kick-off 13:30 GMT/ 15:30 CEST).

'We're playing well'

Die Werkself currently lead the way in the race for the Bundesliga's fourth and final UEFA Champions League qualifying spot and know that two wins from their remaining two games of the season would be enough to seal the deal.

"It's in our hands," explained Leverkusen midfielder Emre Can. "If we win our last two games then we're in the Champions League play-offs or can maybe even secure automatic qualification [...] We have to give 100 per cent and be on top of our game. We need to play with self-belief and put in another good performance. If we do that, we'll win our last two games."

Leverkusen make the 200-kilometre trip to Germany's financial capital buoyed by a three-match unbeaten run under interim head coach Sascha Lewandowski, after Sami Hyypiä was relieved of his duties last month. "We feel great," former Eintracht youth player Can continued. "The quality was always there, but after the change in coach we all wanted to show what we were capable of [...] The preparation's been good and we're playing well."

Fond farewell


Eintracht head coach Armin Veh has likewise steadied the Frankfurt ship following the Eagles' heart-wrenching exit from the UEFA Europa League at the hands of Portuguese giants FC Porto in February, with last weekend's goalless draw away to 1899 Hoffenheim enough to secure top-flight football at the club for a third season running.

The 53-year-old will step down from his position at the Eintracht helm at the end of the current campaign, and fully intends to make the most of the occasion on this his final home assignment of a remarkable three-year tenure at the Commerzbank Arena. "It's going to be emotional", said Veh. "It's been a tough season, but we've played brilliantly and we want to win the game."

Possible line-ups:

Frankfurt: Trapp - Celozzi, Zambrano, Madlung, Djakpa - Schwegler, Russ - Aigner, Meier, Rosenthal - Joselu

Leverkusen: Leno - Donati, Spahic, Toprak, Boenisch - L. Bender, Can - Brandt, Castro, Son - Derdiyok

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