he Germany players are involved in the start of the European qualifiers for the forthcoming World Cup in Russia. Germany coach Joachim Löw has called up five Leverkusen players so that Bayer 04 and FC Bayern are providing the most players for the DFB squad. Julian Brandt, Kevin Volland, Bernd Leno and Jonathan Tah plus newcomer Benjamin Henrichs are hopeful of playing against San Marino. The match in the small stadium in Serravalle on Friday kicks off at 20.45 CET.
More matches follow at the weekend: Chicharito and Mexico face a prestigious encounter in Ohio with the neighbours USA under coach Jürgen Klinsmann. Ömer Toprak and Hakan Calhanoglu are in line to play for Turkey against Kosovo at the same time that Tin Jedvaj and Croatia face Iceland, the surprise package of Euro 2016. The final match on Saturday sees Austria with captain Julian Baumgartlinger, Aleksandar Dragovic and keeper Ramazan Özcan, who takes over in goal from the injured first choice Robert Almer, play Ireland. Admir Mehmedi is an action with Switzerland on Sunday against the Faroe Islands.
Private audience with the Pope
Robbie Kruse has been a regular choice for the Socceroos for years. Austria play Thailand on Tuesday 15 November and an interesting match in the Asiatic World Cup qualifiers. That evening, Germany play a friendly against Italy at the legendary Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan. Before that, the Leverkusen quintet and the other players in the Germany squad have a unique appointment: Jogi Löw and his players have a private audience with Pope Francis in Rome.
The final fixtures of the international break involving Bayer 04 players will are in America. Chicharito and Mexico play Panama a week on Wednesday, Charles Aránguiz and Chile face Colombia and then Uruguay.
International fixtures involving Bayer 04 players:
Thursday, 10.11., 21.30 CET: Colombia v Chile (Aránguiz)
Friday., 11.11., 20.45 CET: San Marino v Germany (Volland, Brandt, Leno, Tah, Henrichs)
Saturday., 12.11., 1.45 CET: USA v Mexico (Chicharito)
Saturday., 12.11., 18.00 CET: Turkey v Kosovo (Toprak, Calhanoglu)
Saturday., 12.11., 18.00 CET: Croatia v Island (Jedvaj)
Saturday., 12.11., 20.45 CET: Austria v Ireland (Baumgartlinger, Özcan, Dragovic)
Sunday., 13.11., 18.00 CET: Switzerland v Faroe Islands (Mehmedi)
Tuesday., 15.11., 13.00 CET: Thailand v Australia (Kruse)
Tuesday., 15.11., 20.45 CET: Italy v Germany (Volland, Brandt, Leno, Tah, Henrichs)
Tuesday., 15.11., 20.45 CET: Northern Ireland v Croatia (Jedvaj)
Tuesday., 15.11., 20.45 CET: Austria v Slovakia (Baumgartlinger, Özcan, Dragovic)
Wednesday., 16.11., 0.30 CET: Chile v Uruguay (Aránguiz)
Wednesday., 16.11., 3.05 CET: Panama v Mexico (Chicharito)
The penultimate Bundesliga matchday of the calendar year marks the end of an eventful first half of the season for the Bayer 04 Women. After seven wins, one draw and four defeats from the first twelve games of the season, coach Roberto Pätzold's team can go above Werder Bremen in the table with a win on Friday, 12 December (kick-off: 18:30 CET).
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The third showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26 kicks off for the Leverkusen eSports team this Thursday, 11 December (live on the B04eSports Twitch channel from 19:00 CET). In the online preliminary round, the Black and Red will once again take on six previously drawn opponents for a place in the Top 16 and the associated entry into the offline knockout round, which will take place at this third showdown on 19 December in Cologne. Showdown One winners Bayer 04 will face FC St. Pauli, who won the second showdown last month, among others. The lowdown on first three opponents in this online preliminary round.
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The exact dates for the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal have been finalised. Accordingly, Bayer 04's home tie against Bundesliga rivals FC St. Pauli will be played on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, with the kick-off at 20:45 CET. This was announced by the German Football Association (DFB) today (Thursday).
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After a strong first half, the Werkself conceded twice against Newcastle United in the UEFA Champions League but fought back and " deservedly earned the draw at the end", as captain Robert Andrich aptly put it. Despite opportunities for further Bayer 04 goals, the positive feeling about the irrepressible commitment the final minutes predominated. The Werkself review.
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Alejandro Grimaldo, of course! With his late equaliser (88') in the Champions League clash against Newcastle United, the Spaniard rescued a point for the Werkself, who took the lead through an own goal by Newcastle's Bruno Guimaraes (13') but went with two goals for the visitors scored by Anthony Gordon (51') and Lewis Miley (74'). It was the third draw for Bayer 04 in the current 2025/26 campaign on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase.
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