{"id":24154,"date":"2025-10-20T06:04:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T06:04:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=24154"},"modified":"2025-10-20T06:04:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T06:04:06","slug":"rebuilding-leverkusen-wary-of-worlds-best-psg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=24154","title":{"rendered":"Rebuilding Leverkusen wary of world’s best PSG"},"content":{"rendered":"
Bayer Leverkusen, who are still rebuilding after a turbulent summer, face perhaps the toughest test in club football when they host European champions Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

After the most successful period in the German club’s 120-year-old history, which included an unbeaten league and cup double and a run to the Europa League final in 2023\/24, Leverkusen lost coach Xabi Alonso and several first teamers in the summer.<\/p>\n

Alonso’s successor Erik ten Hag was sacked after just two league matches, with Dane Kasper Hjulmand since tasked with bedding in almost a starting XI of new arrivals.<\/p>\n

Of those, France defender Loic Bade has quickly made an impression, already calling the shots in central defence.<\/p>\n

In an interview with AFP, Paris-born Bade said that Leverkusen needed to be wary of the French giants, calling PSG “the best team in the world right now”.<\/p>\n

‘Hometown club’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bade, who came through the junior ranks at Paris FC and then Le Havre, overcame an unhappy loan stint at Nottingham Forest before moving to Sevilla and winning the Europa League.<\/p>\n

He was called up to the France squad for the Paris Olympics in 2024, winning silver, and made his full international bow earlier this year.<\/p>\n

At Leverkusen, Bade was tasked with replacing Germany centre-back Jonathan Tah, who moved to Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n

“I’m playing against my hometown club,” Bade said, adding that “of course, this match is a little bit close to my heart.<\/p>\n

“I think they’re the best in the world right now, even with the injuries they have.”<\/p>\n

With just a month between being on the losing side in the Club World Cup final and the season kicking off with the UEFA Super Cup, PSG have been hit by a wave of injuries.<\/p>\n

Ousmane Dembele, Marquinhos, Fabian Ruiz and Joao Neves have all spent time on the sidelines, while Champions League final man-of-the-match Desire Doue returned in Friday’s 3-3 draw with Strasbourg.<\/p>\n

“Despite the absences, they have a very large squad and a great coach,” said Bade.<\/p>\n

Leverkusen are still finding their feet in the Champions League, having drawn two from two. The 2002 Champions League finalists came from behind twice to draw 2-2 at FC Copenhagen, and were then held to a 1-1 draw at home to PSV Eindhoven.<\/p>\n

Leverkusen are yet to lose in seven games since Hjulmand took over, but face a tougher test against an albeit depleted PSG.<\/p>\n

The European champions have started slowly in the league this season, dropping seven points in their opening eight games to sit in an unfamiliar second spot.<\/p>\n

But the Parisians have won two from two in the Champions League, at home against Atalanta and away at Barcelona.<\/p>\n

‘A connector’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bade will be key if Leverkusen’s defence are able to keep PSG’s vaunted attack at bay.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old cuts a calm and collected figure in defence, but Leverkusen have also lauded his impact off the pitch.<\/p>\n

Usually playing in a back three alongside Englishman Jarell Quansah and Edmond Tapsoba, from Burkina Faso — along with Spanish duo Lucas Vazquez and Alex Grimaldo on the flanks — Bade is the centrepiece.<\/p>\n

In an interview with AFP and other media on Thursday, sporting director Simon Rolfes said “it’s amazing how Loic has played, but it’s amazing as well how he acts off the pitch — and that’s very important for us this summer.<\/p>\n

“He’s a connector in the locker room. We have a lot of Spanish-speaking guys, French-speaking guys, English-speaking guys… if you’re so international, it’s important that you have connectors in the team.”<\/p>\n

Midfielder Exequiel Palacios, a World Cup winner with Argentina, lauded Bade for jumping ahead of the learning curve.<\/p>\n

“With Bade, the truth is that since he arrived, he’s become a very strong player who demonstrates his organisational skills in defence,” Palacios told AFP and other media on Thursday.<\/p>\n

“As a player and as a person, he continues to surprise. I’m really happy he’s here at Leverkusen.”<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bayer Leverkusen, who are still rebuilding after a turbulent summer, face perhaps the toughest test in club football when they host European champions Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday. After the most successful period in the German club’s 120-year-old history, which included an unbeaten league and cup double and a run to the Europa League final in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24154\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}