Matchday in focus: Bayer Leverkusen

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Eintracht Frankfurt

·30 January 2026

Matchday in focus: Bayer Leverkusen

Kasper Hjulmand has steadied the ship at Leverkusen since taking charge. Aleix García is key to their controlled style of play, while the goalkeeper jersey is up for grabs.

Tactics

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Head coach Kasper Hjulmand mostly prefers a 3-4-2-1 formation. The Dane has been in the Leverkusen dugout since September, when he won 3-1 on his debut against Eintracht on Matchday 3. The 53-year-old employs an active approach looking to control the play thanks to a high level of technical quality in the middle. A key aspect is the creation of overloads in order to put the opposition defence under pressure. “We always try to play with control, but also with intensity and an attacking mindset,” explained Hjulmand.

Absentees

Eintracht are without the injured Michy Batshuayi, Elias Baum, Jonathan Burkardt, Younes Ebnoutalib, Can Uzun and Jessic Ngankam.

For the visitors, goalkeeper Mark Flekken, Eliesse Ben Seghir and Nathan Tella are all ruled out due to injury, while Loïc Badé is suspended.

One to watch: Aleix García

García joined Leverkusen from Girona FC in summer 2024 and immediately established himself in the heart of the midfield. The 28-year-old excels at reading the game and is one of the top passers in the Bundesliga.A good chunk of his footballing education took place in England. Garcia spent several years in the academy of Manchester City, where he impressed so much that Pep Guardiola handed him his first-team debut at the age of just 18.

In addition…

… his average pass completion rate of 93 percent per game is currently the best in the league.
… he’s started 17 of the Werkself’s 18 Bundesliga matches this season (Leverkusen have one game in hand).
… he made his senior debut for Spain in November 2023 and has since collected eight international caps.

Runs and stats

If history is anything to go by, this fixture promises goals. None of the 81 previous Bundesliga meetings between the two sides have ended goalless – that’s a record in the history of the German top flight.Leverkusen have lost three of their last five away league matches, failing to score each time. They’d previously gone 37 away games without defeat.

Janis Blaswich kept a clean sheet on his first league start for Bayer 04 against Werder Bremen last weekend. Only Fabian Giefer and Bernd Leno have registered shutouts in their first two Bundesliga starts for Leverkusen.