The home game for Austria, with the Leverkusen defensive stalwart Aleksandar Dragovic playing the full 90 minutes, started with a surprising setback for the team under coach Franco Foda: Sonni Nattestad put the Faroe Islands, ranked 107th in the world, in the lead on 19 minutes. Dragovic equalised on the half-hour mark – and then Austria got going.
The Bundesliga players Christoph Baumgartner (30’/TSG Hoffenheim) and Sasa Kalajdzic (44’/VfB Stuttgart) scored the other goals to give Austria a 3-1 lead at half-time. The scoreline remained the same at the final whistle at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. That was the first win for Drago and Co. following the 2-2 draw against Scotland.
Germany followed up on their 3-0 opening victory against Iceland. The team led by coach Joachim Löw beat Romania 1-0 in Bucharest. The only goal of the game was scored by Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry with former Leverkusen player Kai Havertz providing the assist (17'). As in the match against Iceland, the Werkself players Jonathan Tah and Florian Wirtz did not play.
The Germany U21 team played their second group match in the European Championship on Saturday night. The team led by coach Stefan Kuntz drew 1-1 with Holland in Székesfehérvár in Hungary. After a first half without any clear-cut chances, the Dutch took the lead on 48 minutes through Justin Kluivert. The opening goal from the RB Leipzig player stemmed from a mistake by the Germany keeper Finn Dahmen (FSV Mainz 05). Lukas Nmecha of RSC Anderlecht levelled the scores late on (84').
The Bayer 04 keeper Lennart Grill was again on the bench as in the 3-0 victory against Hungary. Romania are the opponents for Germany in the final group match game in the European Championship on Tuesday, 30 March (kick-off: 18.00 CEST). The Kuntz team are currently top of Group A on four points level with Romania. A draw will be enough for Germany to progress to the knockout stages to be played from 31 May to 6 June. This involves the first and second placed teams from the four groups.
The new week starts from a Black and Red perspective on Monday night, 29 March (kick-off: 18.00 CEST) with a match involving Edmond Tapsoba. The Werkself central defender and Burkina Faso play South Sudan in Group B of the Africa Cup qualifiers. Tapsoba's team have already qualified for the finals of the competition with a goalless draw in Uganda.
Patrik Schick is set to play for Czechia a day later in a World Cup qualifier in Wales (kick-off: 20.45 CEST) a few hours after the U21 group match for Germany against Romania. To end the first international break of the year, the Germany senior team with Jonathan Tah and Florian Wirtz plus Austria with Aleksandar Dragovic are in line to play on Wednesday, 31 March. The kick-off of the two World Cup qualifiers is at 20.45 CEST. The remaining internationals involving Werkself players:
Jonathan Tah and Florian Wirtz (Germany):
Wednesday, 31 March (20.45 CEST, Duisburg): Germany v North Macedonia (World Cup qualifier, Group J)
Lennart Grill (Germany U21):
Tuesday, 30 March (18.00 CEST, Budapest): Germany U21 v Romania U21 (Euros, group stage)
Aleksandar Dragovic (Austria):
Wednesday, 31 March (20.45 CEST, Vienna): Austria v Denmark (World Cup qualifier, Group F)
Patrik Schick (Czechia):
Tuesday, 30 March (20.45 CEST, Cardiff): Wales v Czechia (World Cup qualifier, Group)
Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso):
Monday, 29 March (18.00 CET, Ouagadougou): Burkina Faso v South Sudan (Africa Cup qualifier, Group B)
Two Saturdays, one Friday and one Sunday: The dates for the Bayer 04 Women's team games on matchdays 16 to 19 have been finalised. Three of the four matches scheduled by the German Football Association (DFB) on Tuesday will be played at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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Despite a courageous display, the Bayer 04 Women missed out on a surprise at the start of the second half of the Bundesliga season. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team lost 3-0 to league leaders Bayern Munich on Monday night. An early goal from the clinical visitors, a disputed penalty and another spot-kick prevented Leverkusen, who are seventh in the table on 22 points from 14 games, from picking up a point in front of 3,011 spectators at the sold-out Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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The Werkself rang in the Black and Red festive season with an emotional visit to Klinikum Leverkusen. Kristin Kögel, Melissa Friedrich and Louisa Remien from the Bayer 04 Women's team and Jonas Hofmann, Janis Blaswich and Niklas Lomb from the first team visited the young patients on the children's ward and, for the first time, on the ‘Zeitinsel’ children's palliative care unit. They brought a host of lovingly wrapped presents ensuring a big surprise for young and old alike.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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