Joachim Löw announced the day before the match that Bernd Leno was his choice in goal, and that meant the 25-year-old Werkself keeper earned his sixth international cap in Kaiserslautern. Julian Brandt was also a starter against Azerbaijan for his twelfth full international appearance for Germany. A cross from Brandt led to a corner on nine minutes, which was skilfully converted with a backheel by Schalke's Leon Goretzka to give Germany an early lead. Shortly after Sandro Wagner hit the post, the visitors from Azerbaijan sprang a surprise with Ramil Sheydaev levelling the scores on 34 minutes with a shot to the near post that beat Leno.
Germany upped their game significantly after the restart – with Brandt making a solid contribution. The 21-year-old went very close twice in succession on 47 minutes before providing a pinpoint cross for Wagner to put Germany back in front with a header on 54 minutes. That broke the visitors' resistance with Antonio Rüdiger (64'), Goretzka (66') and Emre Can (80') scoring to make it 5-1.
Like Germany, Switzerland also have a perfect record in Group B. The Swiss team clocked up a comfortable 5-2 victory over Hungary at St. Jakob Park in Basel on Saturday for the ninth win in nine games – but they are not certain of qualifying for the World Cup finals. Their last group match on Tuesday (20.45 CET) in Lisbon against Portugal will decide their fate. A draw would be enough for Switzerland to secure a place in Russia next summer as they are three points ahead of the European Champions at the moment. Admir Mehmedi did not play against Hungary but is certainly an option for Vladimir Petkovic's team in the nail-biting finale in the race for top spot.
The Greek team had an outstanding evening in Group H. The side coached by Michael Skibbe, with Panos Retsos coming off the bench on 69 minutes to earn his second full international cap, came from behind to beat Cyprus 2-1 in Nicosia and they also profited from the previous second-placed team Bosnia losing 4-3 against leaders Belgium. Greece now have a two-point lead in second place in the race for a play-off slot and look certain to progress with the final home game on Tuesday against the as yet pointless Gibraltar.
Ticket sales for another Bayer 04 Women's home game have begun. Fans can now purchase tickets for the match against SGS Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Saturday, 22 November. The latest information at a glance.
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It took 120 minutes, but once again Bayer 04 produced a late goal to win their DFB Pokal second-round tie away at Paderborn on Wednesday. “Same as always” was the line in Bild in homage to the 2023/24 double-winning season. With Jeanuel Belocian making his first start in over a year and Ibrahim Maza netting his first Werkself goal to secure a place in the last 16, Jonas Hofmann is eager to “take the positive feeling” into the next round.
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A DFB Pokal thriller that had it all - including a positive outcome from a Bayer 04 perspective. After a goalless and uneventful first half, the second round tie at SC Paderborn 07 really took off: Following a red card for the second division side, Grimaldo scored to give Bayer 04 a 1-0 lead but Paderborn levelled before the end of normal time. The home side then turned the game round at 2-1 in extra time, before Quansah, Maza and Garcia scored for the Werkself to make it 4-2 to seal a place in the Round of 16.
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SC Paderborn 07, the second-placed team in Bundesliga 2, face the Werkself in the second round of the DFB Pokal. Although Paderborn have won six games in a row, Bayer 04 have never lost to SCP. That will hopefully continue on Wednesday, 29 October (kick-off: 18:00 CET) with Patrick Ittrich the man with the whistle. The experienced referee will have to make do without the support of VAR at the Home Deluxe Arena. Read on for further information on tonight’s game in the matchday news.
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