Disappointment in the Germany camp: Following the draw against Spain, the match against Switzerland ended all square at 1-1. With two new players in the starting eleven, Germany took the lead on 14 minutes with a serene finish by Ilkay Gündogan (Manchester City). But the Swiss levelled on the hour mark through Silvan Widmer. Werkself central defender Jonathan Tah replaced Niklas Süle on 62 minutes.
Two Black and Red players had reason to celebrate in Dublin. Lukas Hradecky and Joel Pohjanpalo started for Finland against Ireland – and they found the right response to last Thursday’s 1-0 home defeat against Wales. Fredrik Jensen scored the only goal of the game on 63 minutes to give Finland three important points in League B. The scorer replaced Pohjanpalo just before netting the winning goal; Bayer 04 goalkeeper Hradecky went the full distance in goal for Finland.
Croatia failed to pick up points on their first matchday in the new Nations League campaign. The away game at European Champions Portugal, who played without superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, ended in a 4-1 defeat. João
Cancelo (41'), Diogo Jota (58'), Joao Felix (70') and André Silva (90+4') scored for the hosts with Bruno Petkovic netting a consolation goal for the Croats at 3-1 (90+ 1'). The Werkself player Tin Jedvaj played the full 90 minutes at right back. Jedvaj and Co. face World Cup winners France on Tuesday, 8 September. The match in Paris kicks off at 20.45 CET and will be broadcast live on DAZN.
Moussa Diaby features in the first game of the new week from a black and red perspective. The winger is set to play for the France U21s in a Euro qualifier away to Azerbaijan on Monday night at 19.00 CET. The Werkself duo Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger with Austria play Romania in the Nation League at 20.45 CET (live on DAZN). In addition to Jedvaj, Lennart Grill will again be in action on Tuesday. The Leverkusen new signing will be in goal for the Germany U21 side in Belgium (16.0 CET/live on ProSieben MAXX).
Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger (Austria):
Monday, 7 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): Austria v Romania (UEFA Nations League)
Tin Jedvaj (Croatia):
Tuesday, 8 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): France v Croatia (UEFA Nations League)
Lennart Grill (Germany U21):
Tuesday, 8 September (16.00 CET/live on ProSieben MAXX): Belgium U21 v Germany U21 (U21 Euro qualifier)
Moussa Diaby (France U21):
Monday, 7 September (19.00 CET): Azerbaijan U21 v France U21 (U21 Euro qualifier)
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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