Summer signing Lennart Grill faces Moldova with the Germany U21s in Wiesbaden in the late afternoon. The game kicks off at 18.00 CET (live on ProSieben MAXX) with the Germany youngsters battling for crucial points to qualify for next year’s U21 Euros in Hungary and Slovenia. The big match in Group 9 is on 8 September in Heverlee: Grill and Co. are away to the Belgium U21s (kick-off: 16.00 CET/live on ProSieben MAXX).
The Germany senior team also play their first game of the calendar year on Thursday. After the longest break in international fixtures in 70 years, Germany are involved in a real classic encounter: a clash with Spain. The game in Stuttgart kicks off at 20.45 CET and is live on ZDF and RTL. Jonathan Tah and Kai Havertz are in the Germany squad with coach Joachim Löw also including the Werkself duo for second Nations League game against Switzerland three days later in Basel (kick-off: 20.45 CET/live on ZDF). The matches are behind closed doors.
Joel Pohjanpalo and Lukas Hradecky start the new Nations League season at the same time as teammate Tah. The duo are set to play for Finland against Wales in Helsinki on Thursday (kick-off: 20.45 CET/live on DAZN). The European Championship participants are away to Ireland three days later (kick-off: 18.00 CET/live on DAZN).
A day later each time, Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger are in action with Austria. The Leverkusen players first travel to Oslo for the game against Norway on 4 September (kick-off 20.45 CET/live on DAZN). On Monday, 7 September, there is a home game against Romania. The kick-off is also at 20.45 CET and the streaming service DAZN is also broadcasting this match involving Black and Red players live.
After returning from loan, Tin Jedvaj and his Croatia teammates also face two real crunch games – both away from home. European champions Portugal are the first opponents in Porto on Saturday, 5 September. On 8 September, Jedvaj and Co. are away to World Cup winners France in Paris (both games kick off at 20.45 CET and are live on DAZN).
Moussa Diaby has the the longest journey of all the Bayer 04 internationals. The winger is set to play for the France U21s around 3,000 kilometres from Leverkusen. On Friday, 4 September, there is an away game against the Georgia U21s in Gori. Three days later, there is a match in Sumqayit against the Azerbaijan U21s. Both encounters kick off at 19.00 CET. Diaby and Co. are playing for a place in next year’s U21 Euros.
Jonathan Tah and Kai Havertz (both Germany):
Thursday, 3 September (20.45 CET/live on ZDF and RTL): Germany v Spain (UEFA Nations League)
Sunday, 6 September (20.45 CET/live on ZDF): Switzerland v Germany (UEFA Nations League)
Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger (both Austria):
Friday, 4 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): Norway v Austria (UEFA Nations League)
Monday, 7 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): Austria v Romania (UEFA Nations League)
Joel Pohjanpalo and Lukas Hradecky (both Finland):
Thursday, 3 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): Finland v Wales (UEFA Nations League)
Sunday, 6 September (18.00 CET/live on DAZN): Ireland v Finland (UEFA Nations League)
Tin Jedvaj (Croatia):
Saturday, 5 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): Portugal v Croatia (UEFA Nations League)
Tuesday, 8 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): France v Croatia (UEFA Nations League)
Lennart Grill (Germany U21):
Thursday, 3 September (18.15 CET/live on ProSieben MAXX): Germany U21 v Moldova U21 (U21 Euros qualifier)
Tuesday, 8 September (16.00 CET/live on ProSieben MAXX): Belgium U21 v Germany U21 (U21 Euros qualifier)
Moussa Diaby (France U21):
Friday, 4 September (19.00 CET): Georgia U21 v France U21 (U21 Euros qualifier)
Monday, 7 September (19.00 CET): Azerbaijan U21 v France U21 (U21 Euros qualifier)
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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With their wonderful goals, Martin Terrier and Florian Wirtz are up for the Bundesliga Goal of the Year 2025. Voting for fans will run exclusively via the official Bundesliga app until Sunday, 4 January.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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The ‘year after’ the most successful year in the club's history brought many changes at Bayer 04. In an exclusive double interview with bayer04.de shortly before the Christmas break, Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes spoke about building a new team capable of winning trophies, the work of coach Kasper Hjulmand, the young new signings who have quickly developed into key players, and their personal plans for the Christmas holidays. Their outlook for the coming year also shows that the potential is far from exhausted and ambitions remain high.
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Last-minute ecstasy, huge disappointment and a historic performance on the European stage - 2025 was a real emotional roller coaster, especially for the U19s. A rousing run in the knockout phase secured the team a place in the final of the German championships, where they lost by the narrowest of margins. Despite the departure of several key players, the young Werkself team quickly regained their usual strength and qualified for the knockout rounds in the UEFA Youth League for the first time at the end of the year. In 2025, youngsters Jeremiah Mensah and Montrell Culbreath made their debuts in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. The other youth teams also contributed great performances and a number of trophies to the collective Black and Red success, while the successful Bayer 04 Future Kids project broke new ground. Read on for the 2025 review of the youth teams.
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