Hyypia wants response from Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen coach Sami Hyypia has called on his side to bounce back from their shock loss to Wolfsburg.

A standout performance from Diego led Wolfsburg to a surprise 3-1 win over Bayer, who saw their run of 12 matches without defeat in all competitions come to an end.

Speaking ahead of his team’s clash at home to Schalke, Hyypia said it was important to return to winning ways and put together a string of positive results.

“It will be a tough match for us against a good team,” Hyypia said.

“I think everyone saw what happened last Sunday. We didn’t really play well. We have to play differently and even better on Saturday now if we want to get a good result.

“This week has been a bit strange because we didn’t have a match during the week and some of our players have been on international duty.

“But we as coaches do have more time to prepare for the next game and now everyone is back here again so we have enough time to be ready for Saturday.”

Bayer Leverkusen slipped to fifth in the Bundesliga after the loss, sitting 12 points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

Second-placed Schalke will trouble Hyypia’s side, and the former Liverpool defender is aware his team could fall too far behind in the title race if they drop more points.

“I think we had a very positive run before the match against Wolfsburg and now we’re doing everything we can to have another positive run,” Hyypia said.

“Of course, one of our goals is to build up another positive set of results because (you) always need points to be in the running.

“Every match is important – no matter who your next opponent is.”