After Saturday's 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands, Germany lost for a second time in succession on Tuesday night: In spite of a brave performance against World Cup winners France, the Germany team under coach Joachim Löw lost 2-1 in Paris. With a reshuffled line-up, Germany took the lead on 14 minutes when former Leverkusen midfielder Toni Kroos converted a penalty but they missed the opportunity to extend their lead. Two goals in the last 30 minutes from Antoine Griezmann (62', 80' pen.) sealed a somewhat unfortunate defeat for the German team who are now unable to be certain of remaining in Group A1 under their own steam. Werkself pro Julian Brandt came off the bench in the closing stages of the game at the Stade de France in the French capital – he replaced Matthias Ginter on 83 minutes but was unable to effect the outcome of the match. As on Saturday, team-mate Jonathan Tah remained on the subs bench for the full 90 minutes and therefore still has to wait to make his fourth full international appearance.
Aleksandar Dragovic also returns to Leverkusen on the back of a defeat. The 27-year-old Austrian was on the wrong end of 2-0 reverse in a friendly away to Denmark on Tuesday night. The Werkself number six was played from the start by the Austria coach Franco Foda and he went the full distance. Issac Kiese Thelin did not play in Sweden's 1-1 draw with Slovakia.
There was better luck for Sam Schreck: Following his debut for the Germany U20 team on Friday, the forward started against Switzerland in the U20 Elite League on Tuesday afternoon and he promptly repaid the confidence shown in him: With 16 minutes on the clock, he made it 2-0 with a long-range effort. The Germany junior side under coach Mikel Schönweitz ran out 3-2 winners in the match in Emden.
Jakub Bednarczyk and the Poland junior team lost 4-1 to the Netherlands in the U20 Elite League. The Werkself pro played on the left side of the back four for the full 90 minutes.
The day before, Lukas Hradecky and Finland celebrated a 2-0 victory over Greece in the Nations League. The Werkself number one kept another clean sheet in the new European competition: He did not concede in the fourth group match as he played his part in ensuring the Eagle Owls (on 12 points) have one foot in the play-offs with two games to play in Group C2 – ahead of Greece (6), Hungary (4) and Estonia (1).
Tin Jedvaj also completed the October international break with a win. On Monday night, Croatia beat Jordan 2-1 in a friendly. The 22-year-old World Cup runner-up, who played the full 90 minutes in the 0-0 draw with England in the Nations League on Friday (Group A4), was brought on with 64 minutes on the clock.
Paulinho was the third Werkself pro in action on Monday. In a 2-2 draw in a friendly for the Brazil U20s against Chile, the 18-year-old came off the bench in the second half for the second time in three days.
Once again, well over 100 Werkself fans were delighted to receive an invitation from the club’s record appearance-maker, Rüdiger Vollborn, to the sold-out Schwadbud at the BayArena. This time, the supporters listened as the club historian provided fascinating, exclusive insights into the period from Bayer 04 being founded in 1904 to the club’s promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979. A journey through time is also planned for the upcoming ‘Rudi lädt ein’ event in early November – this time focusing on the years of the Nazi regime.
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Happy children’s faces at the SSV Lützenkirchen training ground: For the 25th time, the Birkenberg soccer school – organised by SportBund Leverkusen – offered participating youngsters an exciting holiday activity. Meeting a Bayer 04 player has now become a cherished tradition. This time, Ibrahim Maza visited the 150 children and spoke to them about his World Cup experiences, amongst other things. “It’s always lovely to see the children’s enthusiasm for football,” said the 20-year-old, after bringing a sparkle to many eyes with selfies and autographs.
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One day after the successful DFB Pokal first round tie at SV Wehen Wiesbaden (4–0), the mood was understandably really good: Over 400 Bayer 04 supporters gathered on Sunday, 23 August, for the annual fan club meet-up at the BayArena and got in the mood for the new season through direct and informal discussions with Bayer 04 management, head coach Carles Martínez and Werkself players.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-0 win at RB Leipzig on the 1st matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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