The only goal of the game in front of 58,000 spectators at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro was scored by Edison Cavani (Paris Saint Germain) on 82 minutes. Charles Aránguiz played the whole game in the centre of a four-man midfield and he produced a good performance – however the Werkself number 20 was unable to provide an assist as he had done in the previous two matches. The defeat meant titleholders Chile ended up with one point less than Uruguay and thereby go through to the last eight as group runners-up. La Roja will face Colombia on Saturday (29 June, 01.00 CET) after they won Group B with three wins ahead of Argentina, Paraguay and Qatar.
After Aránguiz, Jonathan Tah (U21 Euros) and Leon Bailey (Gold Cup), Mark Lamti – as the fourth Black and Red player – started a tournament on Monday night. At the Africa Cup (21 June to 19 July in Egypt), the Bayer 04 U19 player was in the squad for his home country Tunisia in the first match in Group E that ended in a 1-1 draw with Angola. Lamti, who trained with the Werkself senior squad last season under the watchful eyes of head coach Peter Bosz and surprisingly made his full international debut for Tunisia at the start of June, was on the bench for the World Cup participants of 2016 for the duration of the match. Tunisia play Mali in the second group match on Friday (20 June, 16.30 CET).
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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