Joachim Löw announced the day before the match that Bernd Leno was his choice in goal, and that meant the 25-year-old Werkself keeper earned his sixth international cap in Kaiserslautern. Julian Brandt was also a starter against Azerbaijan for his twelfth full international appearance for Germany. A cross from Brandt led to a corner on nine minutes, which was skilfully converted with a backheel by Schalke's Leon Goretzka to give Germany an early lead. Shortly after Sandro Wagner hit the post, the visitors from Azerbaijan sprang a surprise with Ramil Sheydaev levelling the scores on 34 minutes with a shot to the near post that beat Leno.
Germany upped their game significantly after the restart – with Brandt making a solid contribution. The 21-year-old went very close twice in succession on 47 minutes before providing a pinpoint cross for Wagner to put Germany back in front with a header on 54 minutes. That broke the visitors' resistance with Antonio Rüdiger (64'), Goretzka (66') and Emre Can (80') scoring to make it 5-1.
Like Germany, Switzerland also have a perfect record in Group B. The Swiss team clocked up a comfortable 5-2 victory over Hungary at St. Jakob Park in Basel on Saturday for the ninth win in nine games – but they are not certain of qualifying for the World Cup finals. Their last group match on Tuesday (20.45 CET) in Lisbon against Portugal will decide their fate. A draw would be enough for Switzerland to secure a place in Russia next summer as they are three points ahead of the European Champions at the moment. Admir Mehmedi did not play against Hungary but is certainly an option for Vladimir Petkovic's team in the nail-biting finale in the race for top spot.
The Greek team had an outstanding evening in Group H. The side coached by Michael Skibbe, with Panos Retsos coming off the bench on 69 minutes to earn his second full international cap, came from behind to beat Cyprus 2-1 in Nicosia and they also profited from the previous second-placed team Bosnia losing 4-3 against leaders Belgium. Greece now have a two-point lead in second place in the race for a play-off slot and look certain to progress with the final home game on Tuesday against the as yet pointless Gibraltar.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will to have manage without forward Eliesse Ben Seghir. The Morocco international suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle before the AFCON final defeat against Senegal (0-1 a.e.t.).
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The VBL Club Championship 2025/26 continues. Tonight, 27 January (live on Twitch and on the Bayer 04 app from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports team will play the remaining three matches in the online preliminary round of Showdown Four. They are up against FC Kaiserslautern, SC Freiburg and the current club champions and Showdown Three winners RB Leipzig, with whom Bayer 04, club runners-up and Showdown One winners, shared some memorable moments, especially last year. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Jonas Omlin. Bayer 04 have signed the 32-year-old goalkeeper on loan from Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach until the end of the season. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes described the Swiss shot stopper, signed by the Werkself in reaction to the long-term absence of first choice keeper Mark Flekken, as an "internationally experienced keeper." Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the new signing, who will wear the number 18 jersey.
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Under the motto ‘Sound of Dreams - #aCROSS Europe 2025/26’, Bayer 04 are turning this season's UEFA Champions League season into a festival. In addition to a Spotify playlist that fans can use to get in the mood for the Champions League nights, there is also a tour pass with stickers for the respective UCL matches exclusively for Bayer 04 Club members. These could be picked up in the respective weeks of the matches. The sticker for the final clash in the league phase (Villarreal, 28 January, 21:00 CET) is now available at the Fanwelt. The competition for all diligent sticker collectors is also now open. Read on for further information.
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