With an impressive return of three goals in two games, Patrik Schick led the Czech republic into the final clash in Group D. The Reprezentace were already guaranteed to go through to the next round but the final group positions remain to be resolved. The match ended in a narrow 1-0 defeat with Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) scoring the only goal of the game on 12 minutes.
That meant that the Czechs, with Schick being substituted on 75 minutes, ended up in third place in Group D. The four points guarantees them a place in the Round of 16 as one of the four best third-placed teams. It remains to be seen who the Czech Republic will play in the knockout round.
Austria, with the Werkself players Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger, qualified for the Round of 16 on Monday night. Austria will play Italy on Saturday, 26 June with the kick off at 21.00 CEST. Finland are still in limbo. Lukas Hradecky, Joel Pohjanpalo and Co. are third in Group B and now have to wait to see whether their three points will be enough to take them through to the next round.
The Copa America also continues this week. In the night from Monday to Tuesday, Chile with Werkself skipper Charles Aránguiz played Uruguay. After 90 minutes the scoreline was 1-1 and our number 20 played the full game. The next opponents for Chile are Paraguay. The kick-off on Friday, 25 June, is at 02.00 CEST.
Chile were replaced as leaders of Group A by another team with the Bayer 04 player: Argentina. The Albiceleste beat Paraguay 1-0 but Exequiel Palacios did not play in this game. The next match for Argentina is on Tuesday, 29 June (kick-off: 02.00 CEST) is against the as yet pointless and bottom of the group Bolivia.
Good performances at the partner club have led to a contract extension: Jan Boller, at Kurtekotten from 2013 to 2019, signed a two-year deal at the Austrian club Linzer ASK. The 21-year-old central defender was on loan at second division, FC Juniors OÖ, the feeder team for LASK. He impressed their, made 46 appearances as well as scoring five goals and providing two assists. Now the former Germany youth player will be looking to establish himself with the top team in the Austrian Bundesliga. We wish him continuing success.
When the current Bayer 04 honorary captain Ulf Kirsten move to Leverkusen from Dresden in 1990, his son Benjamin came with him. A goalkeeper in contrast to his striker father, he also played for Leverkusen in his younger years. Benjamin went through the ranks of all the teams at Kurtekotten and joined the Bayer 04 Reserves in the summer of 2006 – and he was between the sticks under the guidance of his father.
Kirsten spent the majority of his subsequent professional career at Dynamo Dresden. He played there for seven years. After moving on to NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands) plus Lokomotive Leipzig the goalkeeper recently announced the end of his career. Kirsten will start retraining in the summer as a sports business administration and his former club from Dresden will support him in his education. Good luck, Benny.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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