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.
Bayer 04 have fond memories of their encounters with Heidenheim, including a resounding 6-0 win in the reverse fixture. Kasper Hjulmand’s side would very much like to produce a similarly clinical display as they now head to the Voith-Arena for Matchday 27 on Saturday (15:30 CET). But they come up against a team fighting for their Bundesliga lives at the bottom of the table, 10 points adrift of safety with time running out. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
Show more
The Bayer 04 Women welcome FC Carl Zeiss Jena to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday night in a white retro look - and in a unique Bayer 04 ‘50 Years of Fan Clubs’ special edition jersey. In sporting terms, head coach Roberto Pätzold's team will face the Bundesliga's bottom team at 18:30 CET looking to keep their chances of third place in the table alive with six games left to play.
Show more
Bayer 04 return to Bundesliga action this weekend. Following their elimination in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, the Werkself are away to FC Heidenheim 1846 on Saturday, 21 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET) on Bundesliga matchday 27. Ahead of the clash in the eastern Swabian Alps, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the importance of the fixture and the chances of qualifying for the Champions League next term.
Show more
A quick look at the table shows the situation at FC Heidenheim is serious. The Bundesliga bottom club are already ten points behind the play-off spot with their backs to the wall in sporting terms. With eight games left to play, avoiding relegation appears to be a mission impossible. Nevertheless, they are far from flying the white flag at the Schlossberg ahead of the clash with the Werkself this Saturday, 21 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET). The lowdown on our next opponents.
Show more
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without the two strikers in the immediate future. Caroline Kehrer suffered a torn ligament in her right knee and Amy Wrigge tore her cruciate ligament.
Show more
