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.
Once again in the last four! Bayer 04 put in a mature and, for long stretches, commanding performance to defeat a courageous FC St. Pauli in the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the third time in a row. Martin Terrier gave Leverkusen the lead on 32 minutes before Patrik Schick made it 2-0 on 63 minutes. Substitute Jonas Hofmann capped off a strong second half for the Werkself with the third goal in added time.
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The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
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As in the past two years, the Werkself are aiming to come out on top in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals on Tuesday night, 3 February (kick-off: 20:45 CET). With eleven home games in a row without defeat against the Kiezkicker, the Black and Reds go into the floodlit match in confident mood. But the Pokal, as is often said, has its own magic and the team from the Millerntor has much more to offer than the current 17th place in the Bundesliga would suggest. After all, Bayer 04 are one of the big German teams the combative Hamburgers have already made life difficult for this season. The matchday news.
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The Leverkusen eSports team picked up valuable points and made up ground in the overall table with a top four finish in the offline round in Showdown 4 in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In the round of 16, Showdown 1 winners Bayer 04 defeated the unbeaten runners-up in the previous round, VfL Bochum, in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. The Landwehr cousins, themselves the current club runners-up, then beat the current club champions and Showdown 3 winners RB Leipzig. It was not until the semi-finals that they lost out to the eventual showdown winners Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Rafaela Borggräfe. Bayer 04 have signed the goalkeeper on loan from Liverpool until the end of the season. Bayer04.de profiles the 25-year-old.
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