The current World Cup winners France secured the Nations League title on Sunday night. On the winning team's photo alongside coach Didier Deschamps was Werkself player Moussa Diaby. The 22-year-old did not play in the 2-1 win in the final against Spain but watched a successful fight back from Les Bleus at the San Siro stadium in Milan.
After the opener from Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal, goals from Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe turned the game round in favour of Diaby and Co.. France are the second winners after Portugal since the competition was introduced in 2018/19.
After Zidan Sertdemir scored both goals in the 2-0 victory against Montenegro the Denmark U17 team, the 16-year-old again found the back of the net in a 5-1 win against Malta. The Leverkusen player came on after the start of the second half and scored from the penalty spot in the closing stages to make it 4-1 (84'). That means Denmark with the Black and Red youngster have a goal difference of 7 for and 1 against and are top of Group 1 without dropping a point, just like Turkey. The two top teams in the group meet each other tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11.00 CEST.
Argentina beat Uruguay 3-0 on the night from Sunday to Monday. Bayer 04 player Exequiel Palacios made his comeback following his torn ligament in the middle of September with an appearance off the bench from 75 minutes. Striker Lucas Alario was not in squad this time. The goals for the Albiceleste were scored by Lionel Messi (38') Rodrigo De Paul (44') and Lautaro Martinez (62'). The Copa América winners could secure their seventh home win in succession in World Cup qualifiers on Friday (01.30 CEST) against Peru.
Chile got back on track with a 2-0 win in a World Cup qualifier against Paraguay. For the team including Werkself player Charles Aránguiz, a win was essential in the night from Sunday to Monday to maintain the chance of qualifying for the World Cup. Aránguiz was again in the starting line-up for Chile but he was sent off for a second yellow card offence on 74 minutes – however the victory was not at risk. The team in eighth place are next in action on Friday against the bottom team Venezuela (02.00 CEST).
Central defender Piero Hincapie and Ecuador suffered a 2-1 defeat against Venezuela on Sunday night following their convincing 3-0 win against Bolivia. Los Tricolores took the lead from the penalty spot on 37 minutes before Venezuela levelled before half-time. The winner came on 64 minutes. La Tri remain third in the table on 16 points in the race for the World Cup finals remains open. Bayer 04 new signing Hincapie again started and he played the full 90 minutes.
Lukas Hradecky and Finland entertained Ukraine in the Helsinki at the weekend. The Werkself keeper and his teammates were on the losing side on matchday seven in the World Cup qualifiers. The former Dortmund player Andrey Yarmolenko put Ukraine in front with a shot from 25 yards out four minutes into the game. After the leveller at 1-1 scored by Teemu Pukki (29'), the Ukrainian Roman Yaremchuk beat the Leverkusen keeper from close range on 34 minutes to make it 2-1. The Eagle Owls from Scandinavia are fourth in Group D after five games. Finland's next match tomorrow is at 16.00 CEST against bottom of the table Kazakhstan.
Florian Wirtz (World Cup qualifier)
11.10.21, 20.45 CEST, North Macedonia vs Germany, Skopje
Charles Aránguiz (World Cup qualifiers)
15.10.21, 02.00 CEST, Chile vs Venezuela, Santiago
Odilon Kossounou (World Cup qualifier)
11.10.21, 18.00 CEST, Ivory Coast vs Malawi, Cotonou
Exequiel Palacios and Lucas Alario (World Cup qualifier)
15.10.21, 01.30 CEST, Argentina vs Peru, Buenos Aires
Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong (U21 Euros qualifier)
12.10.21, 20.00 CEST, Netherlands vs Wales, Nijmegen
Amine Adli (U21 Euros qualifier)
12.10.21, 18.30 CEST, Serbia vs Francs, Belgrade
Lukas Hradecky (World Cup qualifier)
12.10.21, 16.00 CEST, Kazakhstan vs Finland, Astana
Patrik Schick (World Cup qualifier)
11.10.21, 20.45 CEST, Belarus vs Czech Republic, Kazan
Andrey Lunev (World Cup qualifier)
11.10.21, 20.45 CEST, Slovenia vs Russia, Maribor
Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifier)
14.10.21, 23.00 CEST, Colombia vs Ecuador, Barranquilla
Zidan Sertdemir (U17 Euro qualifier)
12.10.21, Denmark vs Turkey, Paola
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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