
Led by captain Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic, Austria took a big step towards qualifying for next year's European Championships. The Austrians produced a good performance to register a 3-1 win against Israel in the Group G match at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna. Eran Zahavy (34') gave the visitors the lead before the former Hertha Berlin player Valentino Lazaro (41') plus Eintracht Frankfurt's Martin Hinteregger (56') and Leipzig's Marcel Sabitzer (88') scored to turn the game round. Baumgartlinger played the full 90 minutes in defensive midfield and Dragovic also went the distance in central defence. Austria are now in second place in the group behind Poland having gone ahead of their next opponents in the qualifiers, Slovenia (Sunday, 13 October, 20.45 CET).
In the U21 Euro qualifiers, Panagiotis Retsos captained Greece in a 1-1 draw in the Czech Republic that keeps them top of Group 4. Playing with ten men for much of the game after a sending off on 24 minutes, Greece took the lead just before half-time with a strike from Giannis Bouzoukis (45') but the hosts levelled on 76 minutes with Adam Hlozek getting on the scoresheet. Retsos played in defensive midfield for the full 90 minutes. The 21-year-old should be in the senior Greece squad on Tuesday (15 October, 20.45 CET) for European qualifier against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Moussa Diaby was in the France U21s for a convincing 5-0 home win against Azerbaijan in Group 2 in the European qualifiers. The French side dominated proceedings from the start in Calais – Odsonne Édouard (2', 36') gave the hosts the lead before Dortmund's Dan-Axel Zagadou converted an assist from Diaby to make it 3-0 on 40 minutes. Houssem Aouar (51') and Arnaud Nordin (76’) rounded off the scoring in the second half. The Werkself number 19 played the whole game on the right wing.
The Brazil Olympic team beat Venezuela 4-1 in a friendly. Paulinho, who was on the left wing for the full 90 minutes, provided both assists for Antony just after the restart to put the SeleçãoOlímpica on course for victory at the Estadio dos Aflitos in Recife. Before that, Cristian Cásseres Jr. (37') levelled the score after Douglas Luiz gave the hosts the lead on 24 minutes. Pedro made it 4-1 for the Brazil U23s with the final goal on 73 minutes.
Adrian Stanilewicz celebrated a last-minute win with the Poland U20s against Germany: The winner in the Elite League match came in the final minute as Poland won 4-3. In front of a crowd of 2,000 in Norderstedt in Schleswig-Holstein, Tomasz Makowski opened the scoring for the visitors in the first minute before the Germany U20s turned the game round with goals from Manuel Wintzheimer (7', 21' pen.) and John Yeboah Zamora (36'). In the end Marcel Zylla (40'), Dawid Kurmiokowski (48') and Lukasz Poreba (90') secured the win for Poland. Stanilewicz played for 62 minutes.


The Black and Reds kick off the new Bundesliga campaign today, Saturday 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST), away to newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg – and the Werkself will come up against a familiar face who is currently causing a stir at ‘Elv’. For an affordable and easy journey to the Saarland, the 1,600 travelling fans can still use the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Today’s matchday news..
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The European jersey has been launched, the UEL opponents have been drawn – and anticipation for the European campaign is running high. To mark the occasion, an autograph session was held on Friday afternoon, 28 August, at the Fanwelt with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio.
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The Bundesliga is back. On Saturday 29 August (kick-off: 15:30 CEST), the Werkself are away to SV 07 Elversberg on matchday 1 of the new season. Ahead of the clash at the URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde, head coach Carles Martínez spoke, amongst other things, about the importance of a successful start and the motivation of the league newcomers from the Saarland.
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On Friday afternoon, it will be decided which eight of the 36 participating teams Bayer 04 will face in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League in 2026/27. At the draw in Monaco (live on UEFA.com), the Werkself will be drawn against two teams from each of the four pots, allocated according to the UEFA club coefficient. A match against an opponent from the same country is ruled out, as is facing more than two clubs from the same national association. Here’s a look at the pots and potential opponents.
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After six and a half years, Exequiel Palacios is leaving the Bundesliga and moving from Bayer 04 to the Premier League. The Argentine, who as a Werkself player won the World Cup with his national team four years ago and finished as runners-up at this summer’s tournament, will play for newly promoted English side Ipswich Town with immediate effect. The 27-year-old, whose contract in Leverkusen was due to run until 30 June 2030, joined Bayer 04 in January 2020 as a promising young talent. He steadily developed into one of the best defensive midfielders in the German top flight.
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