The winter signing from FC Köln is currently taking a rest after his first appearances for the senior team and he has been back at school since last week. A daily routine for a 17-year-old. However, the past few days have been exciting for Florian Wirtz: The Pulheim-born player won the Fritz Walter gold medal in the U17 age group and that was followed by a first call-up to the U21 squad under Stefan Kuntz.
“Florian is one of the outstanding talents in Germany. He already has experience in the Bundesliga, the Europa League and the DFB Cup,” said Kuntz. “After discussions with Joti Chatzialexiou and Meikel Schönweitz, plus the club, we decided to call him up to the U21s to further help his development.”
The Germany youngsters play Moldova in Wiesbaden on 3 September in a qualifier for the U21 European Championships (kick-off: 18.15 CET). Five days later, they face Belgium in Leuven (16.00 CET/both games on ProSieben MAXX). If Wirtz plays, then he will be the youngest-ever Germany U21 international. In addition to the striker, Kuntz has also called up Werkself keeper Lennart Grill. Grill already has two international caps with the U21s.
For Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic the new season starts with a game in the Nations League. The Werkself duo are set to play for Austria against Norway in Oslo on 4 September (kick-off: 20.45 CET). Three days later, ‘Baumi’ and Co. entertain Rumania in Klagenfurt. That match also kicks off at 20.45 CET.
Lukas Hradecky and returnee Joel Pohjanpalo will represent Finland in Helsinki on 3 September. They play Wales at 20.45 CET. That is followed on 6 September (18.00 CET) by an away game for the Finns in Ireland. The venue is the capital Dublin.
Tin Jedvaj and his Croatia teammates have two real crackers in the Nations League. Portugal are first up in Porto on 5 September, and World Cup winners France in Paris three days later (both games kick off at 20.45 CET). Moussa Diaby with France and Panos Retsos with Greece, like Wirtz and Grill, are also set to play in two U21 Euro qualifiers.
Werkself players called up:
Lennart Grill, Florian Wirtz (both Germany U21s)
Julian Baumgartlinger, Aleksandar Dragovic (both Austria)
Lukas Hradecky, Joel Pohjanpalo (both Finland)
Tin Jedvaj (Croatia)
Moussa Diaby (France U21)
Panos Retsos (Greece U21)
Having progressed to the DFB Pokal Round of 16, the Bayer 04 Women do not have much time before their next Bundesliga fixture. On Friday night (18:30 CEST), coach Roberto Pätzold’s side kick off matchday six at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against Werder Bremen – and they have a clear mission.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career working as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Bayer 04 host top French club Marseille at the BayArena on matchday four in the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League group stage. The match kicks off on Thursday 5 November at 21:00 CET. The latest information on ticket sales.
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During the international break, Bayer 04 will face third-division newcomers SC Fortuna Köln on Friday 2 October (kick-off: 11:00 CEST). The match will be played on training pitch 1 at the BayArena, as preparations are already underway at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for the Bayer 04 women’s Bundesliga home match against Werder Bremen, which is due to kick off in the early evening. To ensure the friendly against Fortuna Köln runs smoothly and without disruption, it will be played behind closed doors.
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