節 15

BayArena

Delight for Leverkusen fans as Piero Hincapie has signed a new contract with Bayer 04 Leverkusen today. His current deal was set to expire in summer 2027, but the Ecuadorian defender will now remain at the BayArena until June 2029.

The stage is set

The grass is watered and the floodlights are at full glare. We're primed and ready to go at the BayArena.

Team news - Leverkusen

Xabio Alonso has made two changes to his team in the wake of last weekend's 2-0 victory in Augsburg. Fit-again Schick starts up top in place ot Terrier, while Palacios replaces Andrich in central midfield.

Team news - Freiburg

Visiting coach Julian Schuster has kept faith with the same 11 players that began Freiburg's 3-2 win over Wolfsburg on Matchday 14.

Freiburg starting XI

Atubolu – Kübler, Ginter, Lienhart, Günter – Eggestein, Osterhage – Dōan, Höler, Grifo - Gregoritsch

Freiburg subs

Müller, Sildillia, Makengo, Rosenfelder, Muslija, Höfler, Röhl, Manzambi, Adamu

Leverkusen starting XI

Hrádecký – Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapié – Frimpong, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo – Tella, Wirtz – Schick

Leverkusen subs

Kovář, Andrich, Terrier, Arthur, Mukiele, Aleix García, Stepanov, Onyeka, Belocian

Minute’s silence for victims of attack in Magdeburg

The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga has recommended that teams wear black armbands and observe a minute’s silence for the remaining fixtures on Bundesliga Matchday 15 and Matchday 17 in Bundesliga 2 to remember the victims of Friday’s attack at the Christmas market in Magdeburg.

Probable line-ups

Who’s set to play this weekend? Who’s going to miss out? Keep up to date with all the latest team news right here!

Julian Schuster on facing Leverkusen

"The football they play has shaped football in Germany. When I look at our games against Bayern or Leipzig, there are definitely things we can take to compete against quality opposition. The difficulty is that that courage is sometimes taken from you during long spells of opposition pressure."

Xabi Alonso on Freiburg

"It'll be a hard game. They're having a very good season with new ideas from a new coach. They play well with the ball, are also dangerous from set pieces and very stable in terms of their performances. But we want to end this year with a good performance and a good result."

3:14

Watch: Bayer Leverkusen right back in the title hunt

Road warriors

Leverkusen are unbeaten away from home in the Bundesliga in 2024. Bayern are the only team to have gone a full calendar year without an away loss (1986 & 2013).

2:03

Watch: Freiburg 2-3 Leverkusen - previous meeting

Bayer won a five-goal thriller the last time they faced Freiburg. They also won 2-1 at home earlier in the season.

2:03

Watch: Augsburg 0-2 Leverkusen - highlights

The defending champions recorded a fourth straight win on a weekend where leaders Bayern Munich lost in Mainz. Xabi Alonso's side are now just four points behind top spot.