The start of the black and red evening at the Euros saw Austria with Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger play Ukraine for second place in Group C. Austria came out on top to secure qualification for the Round of 16 the team under coach Franco Foda.
With Dragovic in the starting line-up, Christoph Baumgartner (TSG Hoffenheim) scored the only goal of the game on 21 minutes. Baumgartlinger was not in the squad as was the case in the 2-0 defeat against the Netherlands.
As the second-placed team in Group C, Austria meet Italy, the runaway winners of Group A, in the Round of 16. The kick-off on Saturday, 26 June, is at 21.00 CEST with the match probably played in London.
Group B was also decided this evening. Finland with goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky and striker Joel Pohjanpalo were up against the group favourites Belgium while Russia and Denmark played each other at the same time. The Finish team were level at 0-0 at half-time, also due in part to several impressive interventions by Hradecky. Belgium broke the deadlock with 15 minutes to play: From a corner, Thomas Vermaelen hit the woodwork and the ball bounced down off the arm of the Finnish keeper over the line. The second goal of the game was scored by striker Romelu Lukaku (81').
Finland finished third in Group B on three points and now they have to wait for the remaining results in the parallel groups. Four of the six third-placed teams will reach the Round of 16.
The fifth Werkself player at Euro 2020, Patrik Schick, is in a position to cause a medium surprise with his Czech Republic teammates and, like Austria, also go through under their own steam. The team ranked 40th in the world are currently top of Group D with four points from two games. The last group encounter for the Czech Republic is on Tuesday, 22 June (kick-off: 21.00 CEST) against England who have the same number of points. A draw would see Schick and his fellow players in the 'Reprezentace' go through to the Round of 16.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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