
Florian Wirtz entered the Leverkusen history books on Thursday night. The midfielder made his debut for Germany under head coach Hansi Flick in the World Cup qualifier against Lichtenstein (2-0, goals scored by Timo Werner and Leroy Sané). At the age of 18 years, three months and 30 days, Wirtz becomes the youngest Germany full international for Bayer 04.
Exequiel Palacios was also able to celebrate a victory. Argentina secured a 3-1 win against Venezuela. The goals for La Albiceleste were scored by Lautaro Martinez (45'), Joaquin Correa (71') and Ángel Correa (74'). Palacios started on the bench but came on for Rodrigo de Paul on 76 minutes.
The only defeat from a Werkself perspective was suffered by Charles Aránguiz. The 32-year-old and his Chile teammates faced the five-time World Cup winners Brazil in the night from Thursday to Friday. The match ended in a narrow 1-0 win for the Seleção thanks to a goal from Éverton Ribeiro (64'). Aránguiz started but was substituted 15 minutes from full-time when Diego Valdés came on.
Leverkusen's new signing Piero Hincapie did not play. The Ecuador international was not in the squad under head coach Gustavo Alfaro on Thursday night and thereby missed the 2-0 win for his team against Paraguay.
Charles Aránguiz (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 23:00 CEST, Ecuador vs Chile, Quito
10.9., 01:00 CEST, Colombia vs Chile, Bogota
Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong (U21 Euros qualifier)
7.9.,18:45 CEST, Netherlands vs Moldova, Deventer
Moussa Diaby (World Cup qualifiers)
4.9., 20:45 CEST, Ukraine vs France, Kiev
7.9., 20:45 CEST, France vs Finland, Lyon
Emrehan Gedikli (U19 friendlies)
3.9., 17:00 CEST, Germany vs Switzerland, Bad Dürrheim
6.9., 17:15 CEST, Germany vs England, Bad Dürrheim
Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 23:00 CEST, Ecuador vs Chile, Quito
10.9., 0:30 CEST, Uruguay vs Ecuador, Montevideo
Lukas Hradecky and Joel Pohjanpalo (World Cup qualifiers)
4.9., 15:00 CEST, Finland vs Kazakhstan, Helsinki
7.9., 20:45 CEST, France vs Finland, Lyon
Odilon Kossounou (World Cup qualifiers)
3.9., 15:00 CEST, Mozambique vs Ivory Coast, Maputo
6.9., 21:00 CEST, Ivory Coast vs Cameroon, Abidjan
Andrey Lunev (World Cup qualifiers)
4.9., 18:00 CEST, Cyprus vs Russia, Nicosia
7.9., 20:45 CEST, Russia vs Malta, Moscow
Exequiel Palacios (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 21:00 CEST, Brazil vs Argentina, Rio de Janeiro
10.9., 01:30 CEST, Argentina vs Bolivia, Buenos Aires
Panos Retsos (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 20:45 CEST, Kosovo vs Greece, Pristina
8.9., 20:45 CEST, Greece vs Sweden, Athens
Zidan Sertdemir (U17 friendlies)
3.9., 16:30 CEST, Denmark vs Austria, Skagen
6.9., 11:00 CEST, Denmark vs Austria, Frederikshavn
Florian Wirtz (World Cup qualifiers)
5.9., 20:45 CEST, Germany vs Armenia, Stuttgart
8.9., 20:45 CEST, Iceland vs Germany, Reykjavik

Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with Germany U19 international Montrell Culbreath. The attacking midfielder and right winger has penned a deal with the Bundesliga club that runs to 30 June 2030. Culbreath has played for the Werkself as a youth player since 2023. Last December, he scored his first Bundesliga goal for the Leverkusen first team in the Bayer 04 3-1 away win at RB Leipzig.
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The Werkself's 3-0 victory over Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League certainly left many happy faces: Malik Tillman was delighted with his brace, Robert Andrich with the clean sheet and coach Kasper Hjulmand with the "manner" of this significant home win. With an overwhelming superiority and over 75 per cent possession at times, Bayer 04 deserved their place in the UCL play-off round. They will face a familiar foe in February. The Werkself review.
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Werkself TV shows highlights of the 3-0 win against FC Villarreal on matchday 8 in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league phase...
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The Champions League journey continues! On the eighth and final matchday of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26, Bayer 04 secured their place in the play-offs with a commanding 3-0 win over Villarreal. Malik Tillman put in a mature and combative performance for Leverkusen, scoring a brace (12', 35') to make it 2-0 at the break, while Alejandro Grimaldo (57') and plenty of control of the game did the rest in the second half. The draw for the Werkself's next UCL opponents will take place on Friday 30 January at 12:00 CET.
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