Austria made a successful start to their Nations League campaign. The team, coached by former Werkself captain Franco Foda since November 2017, started the game in the Norwegian capital without Baumgartlinger and Dragovic. The two Bayer 04 players started on the bench. Ahead of the game, Foda explained that some of his players had not had enough training sessions due to the European finals tournaments and that he would therefore be careful in introducing them to competitive action.
Dragovic was able to take off his training kit near the end of the first half. The Frankfurt player Martin Hinteregger picked up an injury and the Leverkusen player came off the bench on 41 minutes. At that point it was 1-0 for the visitors – Augsburg's Michael Gregoritsch scored. After half-time, Leipzig's Marcel Sabitzer (54') and Dortmund's Erling Haaland (66') scored the other two goals. The usual captain Baumgartlinger came on as a substitute on 88 minutes.
Foda did confirm that the Leverkusen player would remain as the skipper. "If my captain is 100 per cent fit then he'll play," said the coach who did not reveal whether Baumgartlinger would start on Monday night. Austria entertain Romania in Klagenfurt.
Diaby did play from the start. His France U21 team faced Georgia in a Euro qualifier and they ran out 2-0 winners. Diaby hit the woodwork on eight minutes and was substituted on 72 minutes. For the Leverkusen player and his teammates, their next game is a Euro qualifier in Azerbaijan on Monday, 7 September with the kick-off at 19.00 CET.
Jonathan Tah (Germany):
Sunday, 6 September (20.45 CET/live on ZDF): Switzerland v Germany (UEFA Nations League)
Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger (Austria):
Monday, 7 September (20.45 CET/live on DAZN): Austria v Romania (UEFA Nations League)
Joel Pohjanpalo and Lukas Hradecky (Finland):
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):
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 Women missed out on victory in the Google Pixel Bundesliga as they were held to a draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Estrella Merino Gonzalez had put the Werkself ahead directly from a corner at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion, before Laura Freigang levelled for the visitors as it finished all square between fourth and third on Matchday 7.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without attacking midfielder Martin Terrier for the time being. The Frenchman sustained a muscle injury to his left hamstring yesterday, Thursday 15 October, during the Europa League game against Polish champions Lech Poznan (4–0). Terrier is not expected to be available until late December.
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