Kasper Hjulmand insists Bayer Leverkusen must play on front foot

Bayer Leverkusen boss Kasper Hjulmand has ordered his players to be on the front foot even when they are defending as they prepare for Bundesliga battle with Union Berlin.

The two sides meet at the BayArena on Saturday with last season’s runners-up already seven points adrift of leaders Bayern Munich after five games and only one better off than this weekend’s visitors in 11th place after a mixed start to the campaign.

Sixth-placed Bayer have only lost once in the league but have won only twice and Hjulmand, who saw his side pegged back in a 1-1 Champions League draw with PSV Eindhoven in midweek, is desperate to strike the balance between defensive resilience and attacking threat.

He told a press conference: “It’s very important, first of all, for me and for the team to keep the mentality behind all our minutes played, to be proactive. It’s very important that we are on the front foot in every minute of the game.

“Of course, we have to defend very low and tough sometimes, but it should always be with the intention that right after this struggle, we will have a possibility to score the next goal somehow.”

Union, who finished 13th last season, were held to a 0-0 home draw by Hamburg last weekend but demonstrated their potency a week earlier when former Scotland international Oliver Burke scored a hat-trick in an eye-catching 4-3 victory at high-flying Eintracht Frankfurt.

However, the fact that they led 4-1 before conceding two late goals will not have gone unnoticed by Hjulmand.