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)
From the 2027/28 season, the Women’s Bundesliga will be organised by an independent league association. Following the unanimous decision taken at the DFB Bundestag (national conference) on Friday afternoon, the league’s separation from the DFB is now official.
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The next home fixture is here: Following the winning start to the UEFA Europa League against NK Celje, the Werkself host RB Leipzig at the BayArena on matchday 4 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga campaign. The match on Sunday, 20 September, kicks off at 15:30 CEST. At the pre-match press conference, head coach Carles Martínez spoke about the qualities of the opposition and the work being done to improve his team’s performance. The Spaniard also provided updates on Ibrahim Maza and Montrell Culbreath.
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Following the Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 20 September, 15:30 CEST), some of the Werkself first team players will be heading off for the first international break of the season. Here is an overview of the Bayer 04 players called up for their national teams and all the details of their upcoming matches.
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A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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