Austria made a successful start to their Nations League campaign. The team, coached by former Werkself captain Franco Foda since November 2017, started the game in the Norwegian capital without Baumgartlinger and Dragovic. The two Bayer 04 players started on the bench. Ahead of the game, Foda explained that some of his players had not had enough training sessions due to the European finals tournaments and that he would therefore be careful in introducing them to competitive action.
Dragovic was able to take off his training kit near the end of the first half. The Frankfurt player Martin Hinteregger picked up an injury and the Leverkusen player came off the bench on 41 minutes. At that point it was 1-0 for the visitors – Augsburg's Michael Gregoritsch scored. After half-time, Leipzig's Marcel Sabitzer (54') and Dortmund's Erling Haaland (66') scored the other two goals. The usual captain Baumgartlinger came on as a substitute on 88 minutes.
Foda did confirm that the Leverkusen player would remain as the skipper. "If my captain is 100 per cent fit then he'll play," said the coach who did not reveal whether Baumgartlinger would start on Monday night. Austria entertain Romania in Klagenfurt.
Diaby did play from the start. His France U21 team faced Georgia in a Euro qualifier and they ran out 2-0 winners. Diaby hit the woodwork on eight minutes and was substituted on 72 minutes. For the Leverkusen player and his teammates, their next game is a Euro qualifier in Azerbaijan on Monday, 7 September with the kick-off at 19.00 CET.
Jonathan Tah (Germany):
Sunday, 6 September (20.45 CET/live on ZDF): Switzerland v Germany (UEFA Nations League)
Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger (Austria):
Monday, 7 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): Austria v Romania (UEFA Nations League)
Joel Pohjanpalo and Lukas Hradecky (Finland):
Sunday, 6 September (18.00 CET/live on DAZN): Ireland v Finland (UEFA Nations League)
Tin Jedvaj (Croatia):
Saturday, 5 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): Portugal v Croatia (UEFA Nations League)
Tuesday, 8 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): France v Croatia (UEFA Nations League)
Lennart Grill (Germany U21):
Tuesday, 8 September (16.00 CET/live on ProSieben MAXX): Belgium U21 v Germany U21 (U21 Euro qualifier)
Moussa Diaby (France U21):
Monday, 7 September (19.00 CET): Azerbaijan U21 v France U21 (U21 Euro qualifier)
Bayer 04 have secured the services of Serbia U19 international Aleksa Damjanovic for next season. The 17-year-old centre-forward will move from Red Star Belgrade to Leverkusen in the summer on a long-term contract. The 1.98 metre tall striker is regarded as one of the most promising attacking talents in Europe and has recently impressed with strong performances at both first team and youth level. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes and director of football Kim Falkenberg particularly praise his finishing, heading ability and physical presence in the penalty area.
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The Bayer 04 eSports team made a great start to the fifth and final showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26! The Leverkusen players picked up nine points in the first three of six matches in the online preliminary round. Victories against VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht Braunschweig and SpVgg Greuther Fürth not only put the Black and Reds in a good position to progress to the offline round. Valuable points were also collected for the overall table and direct entry into the final event of the German Club Championship.
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The fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 begins for the #B04eSports team this Thursday, 12 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), with the online preliminary round kicking off against VfL Wolfsburg, Eintracht Braunschweig and SpVgg Greuther Fürth. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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A Friday night derby, carnival time and floodlights: In the close race for third place in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga, the Werkself welcome FC Köln. In addition to the neighbourly rivalry, the match, kicking off at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium at 18:30 CET, is also a highly charged sporting encounter.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed a contract extension with women’s assistant coach Friederike Mehring until 30 June 2027. The 32-year-old’s previous deal was set to expire at the end of the season.
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