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)
From the 2027/28 season, the Women’s Bundesliga will be organised by an independent league association. Following the unanimous decision taken at the DFB Bundestag (national conference) on Friday afternoon, the league’s separation from the DFB is now official.
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Following the Bundesliga clash against RB Leipzig (Sunday, 20 September, 15:30 CEST), some of the Werkself first team players will be heading off for the first international break of the season. Here is an overview of the Bayer 04 players called up for their national teams and all the details of their upcoming matches.
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A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Werkself were feeling quite satisfied following their 2–0 home win in their opening match of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League, particularly with the result. At the same time, players and coaches agreed that, in terms of their performance, there was “still room for improvement”, as Robert Andrich put it. For his part, Moussa Diaby emphasised the importance of the victory with which the team had kicked off the campaign, and spoke personally about how good it felt to have started in front of the “wonderful” Bayer 04 fans this Tuesday evening for the first time since his return. The Werkself review of the Europa League opener.
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