Jonathan Tah, Nadiem Amiri and Kai Havertz were called up to the Germany squad again although the 20-year-old playmaker has had to withdraw due to an injury sustained in last Sunday's 2-0 win against VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Joachim Löw's team play Belarus in Mönchengladbach on Saturday 16 November. The final qualifier is three days later when the four-time world champions entertain Northern Ireland in Frankfurt (both kick-offs at 20.45 CET and broadcast live on RTL). Providing Northern Ireland do not beat the Netherlands – that game is also on Saturday night – then Tah, Amiri and Co. will qualify for the finals if they beat Belarus. Even a draw would be enough if the Dutch beat the Northern Irish team. Germany will be looking to make a statement by winning the two remaining Euro qualifiers. That would increase the chances of winning the group, which could be crucial for the draw at the end of the month: Only the six best group winners will be seeded as the strongest teams. Group runners-up will be in pots two to four according to the UEFA coefficients and those could be much tougher groups.
The Werkself duo Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic are on the road with Austria. Saturday brings a home game at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna when Austria take on North Macedonia. That is followed on Tuesday 19 November by an away fuxture against Latvia in Riga (kick-offs at 20.45 CET, both games live on DAZN). One point against North Macedonia would be enough to qualify for the finals. Austria are currently second in Group G, three points behind Poland.
Lukas Hradecky is in a position, in his own words, to "make history" with his home country Finland: The Scandinavians are on the verge of making their first appearance in the European Championship finals. The Finns need just one win and that could come on Friday 15 November in the home game against Liechtenstein in Helsinki (kick-off at 20.45 CET, live on DAZN). The 'Eagle Owls' would then finish second in Group J behind Italy regardless of the outcome of the other games and the result against Greece in Athens on Monday 18 November (kick-off 20.45 CET, live on DAZN). Werkself striker Joel Pohjanpalo is not available for the two remaining qualifiers: The 25-year-old suffered an ankle injury in a training session with his international team-mates. Pohjanpalo is remaining with the Finland squad for the rest of the international break and he will give them his maximum support.
The U21 European Championships are also in full swing: Bayer 04 pros Moussa Diaby (France U21s) and Panagiotis Retsos (Greece U21s) are also representing their countries. Diaby and France play Georgia on Friday and are away to Switzerland on Tuesday (19 November). The Greece U21 team, including Retsos, play Scotland in Edinburgh tomorrow. Adrian Stanilewicz and the Poland U20 national team are involved in the U20 Elite League: Adrian was on the bench in the 5-1 win against Switzerland on Thursday. There is a friendly on Monday against the Norway U20s.
Away from the Euro qualifiers, there are a number of friendlies to be played: Lucas Alario is with Argentina for a friendly against Brazil in Riyadh (Friday 15 November, kick-off: 18.00 CET) and three days later they take on Uruguay in Tel Aviv (kick-off: 20 to 45 CET). The Peru v Chile friendly planned for next Wednesday involving Charles Aránguiz has been called off due to the national crisis in Chile. Paulinho is away with the Brazil U23s in the Canaries for a four-way tournament with the U23s playing the USA in the semi-finals. The Argentina and Chile junior teams are also involved.
The Leverkusen eSports team played the remaining three of the six matches in the online preliminary round of the fourth showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg were among the teams with the highest goal threat, including two World Cup participants in their ranks. Although the #B04eSports players were defeated in the matches overall, nine points from the first three games last week were enough for Leverkusen to advance to the offline round in Berlin on 2 February.
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A decisive showdown awaits: The Werkself are aiming to progress to the play-off round of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League with a home win against Villarreal CF on the eighth and final matchday of the league phase. Ahead of the match on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the importance of the game, the possible return of Edmond Tapsoba and a statement from new signing Jonas Omlin in an exclusive interview with Werkself TV. Lucas Vázquez, for his part, spoke about his role on and off the pitch as well as tomorrow’s opponents, who he often faced in Spain with Real Madrid.
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For Villarreal CF, the match at Bayer 04 on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), will be their last appearance on the European stage this season. The Spanish side, currently fourth in La Liga, are still without a win in the UEFA Champions League and, with just one point from their seven games so far, have no chance of making the play-offs. The 2021 Europa League winners can therefore play without any pressure at the BayArena and will be looking to bow out of the competition with a good performance. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will to have manage without forward Eliesse Ben Seghir. The Morocco international suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle before the AFCON final defeat against Senegal (0-1 a.e.t.).
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The VBL Club Championship 2025/26 continues. Tonight, 27 January (live on Twitch and on the Bayer 04 app from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports team will play the remaining three matches in the online preliminary round of Showdown Four. They are up against FC Kaiserslautern, SC Freiburg and the current club champions and Showdown Three winners RB Leipzig, with whom Bayer 04, club runners-up and Showdown One winners, shared some memorable moments, especially last year. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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