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.
Freiburg’s defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend left them two places but a whole 10 points behind Bayer 04. Their results in general may be mixed, but Julian Schuster’s side are a force to be reckoned with at home, where they have earned 24 of their 33 points. Leverkusen may choose to look for the aerial route if they’re to get the better of their hosts, who have conceded more headed goals than any other team. Here’s all you need to know ahead of Saturday afternoon’s game in our matchday news.
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A boost for the second Bundesliga away game in a row: The Werkself take on SC Freiburg just three days after the convincing 1-0 win at Hamburger SV. Ahead of the game on Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the lessons learned from the rearranged fixture at HSV, a trio on yellow cards and young players like Christian Kofane and Montrell Culbreath.
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SC Freiburg suffered their eighth away defeat of the season in Frankfurt last weekend. But at home, at the Europa Park Stadion, coach Julian Schuster's team are clocking up one win after the next. SCF are unbeaten in the last 16 matches at home. On Saturday, 7 March (kick-off: 15:30 CET), they will be looking to keep the run going in the clash with the Werkself. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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For the third time in a row, the Leverkusen eSports players have made it through to the final round of the VBL Club Championship. From 7 to 8 March, they will compete for the German Club Championship at XPERION in Hamburg. At the start of the final round, they face Hamburger SV in the Round of 16. The match starts at 19:30 CET on Saturday, 7 March and will be broadcast live on the VBL Twitch channel. The eSports preview.
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The German Football League (DFL) has scheduled Matchdays 28 to 30 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The fixtures at a glance.
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