The Finland team including Werkself captain Lukas Hradecky travelled over 3,000 kilometres from Helsinki to the next venue in the World Cup qualifiers. After the 2-1 home defeat against Ukraine, the Eagle Owls headed to Nur-Sultan. With Hradecky in goal, Finland secured a 2-0 victory in the Kazakhstan capital. Striker Teemu Pukki netted a brace (45', 48'). Bayer 04 player Joel Pohjanpalo (currently on loan at Caykur Rizespor in Turkey) had to go off on 33 minutes.
Finland are now third in Group D with eight points. As second-placed Ukraine have played one more game and only have one point more, the Eagle Owls have the chance of qualifying for the play-offs in their own hands. Finland's two remaining opponents in the World Cup qualifiers are Bosnia-Herzegovina (13 November) and France (16 November).
Bayer 04 new signing Amine Adli followed on with the next chapter after his textbook debut on Friday: The 21-year-old found the back of the net again in the U21 Euro qualifier against Serbia when he opened the scoring for the France U21 side on 29 minutes. The versatile forward came off on 70 minutes with the young French team securing a 3-0 victory 20 minutes later. Adli and Co. are currently top of Group H.
There was an emphatic victory for another Leverkusen duo with their national team: Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong were in the Netherlands U21 side that clocked up a convincing 5-0 home victory over Wales. Both Werkself players started and Frimpong was substituted on 74 minutes. Bakker provided the assists for the first and fourth goals.
Youngster Zidan Sertdemir and the Denmark U17 team ended up losing 4-3 on penalties in the Euro qualifier against Turkey. The 16-year-old Leverkusen player netted the leveller at 2-2 in normal time and scored as the first penalty taker in the shootout.
Exequiel Palacios and Lucas Alario (World Cup qualifier)
15.10, 01.30 CEST, Argentina vs Peru, Buenos Aires
Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifier)
14.10, 23.00 CEST, Colombia vs Ecuador, Barranquilla
The second European away game takes the Werkself to the Portuguese capital Lisbon. Kasper Hjulmand's team will face record champions Benfica on Wednesday, 5 November (kick-off: 20:00 GMT, 21:00 CET) on matchday 4 in the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League. As usual, we will take you along on the #aCROSSeurope journey and report from Lisbon. The times given are Central European Time.
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The Werkself beat Benfica 1-0 on Matchday 4 of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League league phase to seal three crucial points! Both teams had promising chances in the first half, but the contest was goalless at half-time. Substitute Patrik Schick headed in to score the only goal after the restart (65’). The home side went looking for an equaliser but Bayer 04 defended passionately to see out the storm.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 2-1 win against Hamburger SV on the 9th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
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The Werkself consolidated their position among the top teams in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga thanks to a last-minute goal on Wednesday evening. Roberto Pätzold’s team beat Hamburger SV 2-1 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Kristin Kögel (14’) and Caroline Kehrer (90’+5) scored for Bayer 04. The result takes Bayer 04 Women onto 19 points, third in the table behind top two Bayern Munich (25) and VfL Wolfsburg (22).
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One Bayer 04 player in particular is looking forward to the Werkself’s Champions League match away at Benfica on Wednesday 5 November (kick-off at 21:00 CET). Alejandro Grimaldo returns to his old stomping ground for the first time since he joined Bayer 04 two years ago. He encounters a Portuguese side that are unbeaten in the domestic league but under pressure in the UEFA Champions League having not taken any points, even under new coach José Mourinho. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in Lisbon.
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