And, after the transfer to Bayer 04 took so long, 'Drago' is keen to finally get started.
"I'm glad it's all finally worked out after what feels like three years," said Dragovic in the afternoon at a first press conference at his new home of the BayArena. He explained in his thoughtful manner the reasons for the move: "I like the style of Bayer 04 and it's similar to that of the national team. I think I can develop well here."
The sporting reasons for his moving to Leverkusen was not the only factor with the political situation in Ukraine also playing a role. "The country is at war and you can't ignore that," said Dragovic who does not regret the move from FC Basel to Dynamo Kiev. "I’ve matured a lot there over the last couple of years," he declared.
And that is why he gave everything for his former club right up to the last minute. Loyalty and commitment-Dragovic likes those virtues. He certainly does not lack character and he is commanding at the tender age of 25. He earned his 50th cap for Austria in Georgia and is one of his country's key players. He is looking to reproduce that at Leverkusen and he took the first steps on Tuesday. "When I joined Rambo and Julian in the dressing room I was the happiest person on earth," said Dragovic. It would be harder to get off to a better start.
Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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