
Germany v Brazil, the defending champions again the record World Cup winners. Bernd Leno and Julian Brandt watched the kick-off from the subs' bench at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin. An intense and hard-fought encounter in front of 71,000 fans ended in a 1-0 win for the South American side. Gabriel Jesus netted the winner for the Selecao eight minutes before half-time – goalkeeper Kevin Trapp got to the ball but was unable to keep out the header from the Manchester City striker. Brandt replaced Leroy Sané on the hour mark to earn his fourteenth cap for Germany.
Club coach Heiko Herrlich was probably not disappointed that Charles Aránguiz and Panos Retsos were not in the starting line-ups for Chile in Denmark and Greece against Egypt after the pair had played for 90 minutes on Saturday. They ended up watching the games that ended in a 0-0 draw for Chile and a 1-0 win for Greece. Julian Baumgartlinger once again captained Austria for a friendly in Luxembourg. The result of the match was a 4-0 victory for Austria with 'Baumi' coming off on 65 minutes
The Germany U21 only managed to draw 0-0 in the Euro qualifier in Kosovo. The captain Jonathan Tah was not in the squad due to a problem with his back, Benjamin Henrichs produced another reliable performance at right back as he went the full distance. The goalless draw did not live up the expectations of the Germany team but Stefan Kuntz's men remain top of Group 5 with seven of ten games played.
For the Germany U19s led by skipper Kai Havertz the final match in the Euro qualifiers against the Netherlands was a decider: Germany needed to win and they could not afford a victory for Norway over Scotland in the other game. The night in front of 3,600 fans in Ahlen ended in disappointment for the hosts after a dramatic game. Germany produced an impressive performance to win 4-1 but Norway came back from 4-2 down to win 5-4 in the last minute to deny Germany a place in the European Championship finals in Finland in the summer. The Germany team left the pitch with heads bowed. "Nobody really knows how to deal with the situation. I really feel sorry for the team," said the downhearted Germany coach Meikel Schönweitz. Kai Havertz had a good game scoring the opener and converting a penalty to make it 4-1 – his seventh goal in eight games for the Germany U19s. Atakan Akkaynak and Sam Schreck watched the match from the bench.


After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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When Exequiel Palacios moved from the Argentinian club River Plate to Bayer Leverkusen on 1 January 2020, the then 21-year-old could not have imagined just how successful the next six and a half years would be for him. Pala, as he is known, had already won the Copa Libertadores – the most prestigious competition in South American club football – with River Plate. But there were still so many more trophies to come.
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To mark Exequiel Palacios’s departure, we’ve put together a compilation of the midfielder’s finest and most important goals from his six-and-a-half years at the club.
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Newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg will begin the 2026/27 season as Bundesliga club number 59. The Saarland club start their first Bundesliga campaign at home to the Werkself on Saturday, 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST) at the URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde, which is currently being rebuilt. For one Leverkusen player in the ‘Elv’ line-up, the clash will be a special reunion. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Ernest Poku is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen to play in the Turkish Süper Lig. The club has loaned the Dutch winger to Beşiktaş for one year. If certain criteria are met, the Istanbul club – who finished fourth in the Turkish top flight last season – will be obliged to make the move permanent.
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