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
The Leverkusen eSports team played the remaining three of the six matches in the online preliminary round of the fourth showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg were among the teams with the highest goal threat, including two World Cup participants in their ranks. Although the #B04eSports players were defeated in the matches overall, nine points from the first three games last week were enough for Leverkusen to advance to the offline round in Berlin on 2 February.
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A decisive showdown awaits: The Werkself are aiming to progress to the play-off round of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League with a home win against Villarreal CF on the eighth and final matchday of the league phase. Ahead of the match on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the importance of the game, the possible return of Edmond Tapsoba and a statement from new signing Jonas Omlin in an exclusive interview with Werkself TV. Lucas Vázquez, for his part, spoke about his role on and off the pitch as well as tomorrow’s opponents, who he often faced in Spain with Real Madrid.
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For Villarreal CF, the match at Bayer 04 on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), will be their last appearance on the European stage this season. The Spanish side, currently fourth in La Liga, are still without a win in the UEFA Champions League and, with just one point from their seven games so far, have no chance of making the play-offs. The 2021 Europa League winners can therefore play without any pressure at the BayArena and will be looking to bow out of the competition with a good performance. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will to have manage without forward Eliesse Ben Seghir. The Morocco international suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle before the AFCON final defeat against Senegal (0-1 a.e.t.).
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The VBL Club Championship 2025/26 continues. Tonight, 27 January (live on Twitch and on the Bayer 04 app from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports team will play the remaining three matches in the online preliminary round of Showdown Four. They are up against FC Kaiserslautern, SC Freiburg and the current club champions and Showdown Three winners RB Leipzig, with whom Bayer 04, club runners-up and Showdown One winners, shared some memorable moments, especially last year. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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