
The Spain U17s, including Iker Bravo, beat Estonia 4-0 in a qualifier for the U17 European Championship. The U19 international, who has already played for the Werkself, came off the subs bench on 66 minutes and he scored the final goal at 4-0 five minutes later. Bravo and Co. had already come out on top against Belgium (1-0) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (4-1). That puts the Spaniards top of Group D unbeaten after three games.
And Bayer 04 new signing Sardar Azmoun also found the back of the net: Having already qualified for the World Cup finals, Iran secured a convincing 2-0 win against Lebanon in their final qualifier. Azmoun played the full 90 minutes and he opened the scoring for his side on 35 minutes. In addition to Iran, hosts Qatar, South Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia are the qualifiers from Asia to date. The United Arab Emirates and Australia are still in the running. The winners of that game face the fifth-placed team in South America in a play-off.
Ahead of the final qualifiers in South America, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador were already through to the finals. Peru have finished in fifth place and are now in the play-off against a team from Asia for a slot at the finals. Werkself player Charles Aránguiz and Chile did not qualify. Chile suffered a 2-0 defeat to Uruguay. Aránguiz was in the starting eleven and he went the full distance.
Two Black and Red players faced each other in another game: the qualified team from Ecuador with Piero Hincapie drew 1-1 with fellow finalists Argentina including Exequiel Palacios. Both Leverkusen players were on the pitch: Hincapie played the full 90 minutes in central defence. Pala came on for Mac Allister on 59 minutes.
The Netherlands U21s beat top of the table Switzerland (19 points) 2-0 in a European Championship qualifier and they remain on the heels of the Swiss team in second place with 17 points having played a game less. Particularly good news: Mitchel Bakker was in the starting line-up and he played the full game.
Finland and Lukas Hradecky lost 2-0 to Slovakia in a friendly. The Black and Reds captain was between the sticks for the full duration of the game. Burkina Faso lost 3-0 in their friendly against Belgium. Edmond Tapsoba also played from the start and he was shown a yellow card.

And that’s not all: France clocked up an impressive 5-0 victory over South Africa in a friendly. Moussa Diaby came on as a sub on 64 minutes. The Ivory Coast lost 3-0 to England in a friendly. Bayer 04 defender Odilon Kossounou did not play.
Yesterday’s friendly between the Netherlands and Germany finished all square at 1-1. After Jonathan Tah played the full 90 minutes in the 2-0 win against Israel, he did not feature in this match.

Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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