Germany missed out on taking a decisive step in qualifying for the 2020 European Championships. The duel with the neighbours from the Netherlands on Friday 6 September ended in a 4-2 defeat for the German team. The goals for Joachim Löw’s side were scored by Serge Gnabry (9') and Toni Kroos (73' pen.); Frenkie de Jong, Jonathan Tah (o.g. 65'), Donyell Malen (79') and Georgino Wijnaldum (91') netted for the Oranje.
Playing in his home city, Tah was in the starting eleven in front of a capacity 51,299 crowd at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg. With Bayer 04 head coach Peter Bosz looking on, the Werkself number four played the full 90 minutes in a back three alongside Niklas Süle and Matthias Ginter. Kai Havertz started on the bench and came on in the 61st minute.
In spite of the defeat, Germany (nine points) have the chance to lead Group C on Monday 9 September. In a 20.45 CET kick-off in Belfast, Germany face Northern Ireland who have the maximum return of twelve points from four games to date.
Austria have maintained their challenge in Group G. The team led by captain Julian Baumgartlinger, who played for 75 minutes, beat bottom of the group Latvia 6-0. Aleksandar Dragovic was on the pitch for 82 minutes in Salzburg.
There were no winners in the duel between Lucas Alario and Charles Aránguiz; the friendly between Argentina and Chile in Los Angeles ended in a goalless draw. Alario came off the bench on the hour mark and Aránguiz was in the starting line-up for La Roja and he was brought off with two minutes to play
Lukas Hradecky remains on the road to success with his national side. Finland beat Greece 1-0 in the Euro qualifiers and are in second place in Group J behind leaders Italy. Hradecky played the full 90 minutes.
Paulinho was a winner with the Brazil U23 side in a friendly against Colombia and he too played the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 victory.
Moussa Diaby featured in the convincing 4-0 win for the France U21s in a friendly against Albania in Amiens. The Werkself midfielder went the full distance.
Panos Retsos tasted defeat with the Greece U21s. Playing against the Germany U21s coached by Stefan Kuntz, Greece, who played with ten men after 37 minutes due to a sending off, lost 2-0 in Zwickau. Retsos had the chance to score a consolation goal with four minutes to play but his header was saved by goalkeeper Lennart Grill.
Remaining fixtures for Bayer 04 players:
Kai Havertz, Jonathan Tah (Germany)
Monday 9 September (20.45 CET, Belfast): Northern Ireland v Germany (Euro qualifiers, Group C)
Charles Aránguiz (Chile)
Wednesday 11 September (03.30 CET, San Pedro Sula): Honduras v Chile (friendly)
Lucas Alario (Argentina)
Tuesday 10 September (04.00 CET, San Antonio): Argentina v Mexico (friendly)
Leon Bailey (Jamaica)
Saturday 7 September (02.00 CET, Montego Bay): Jamaica v Antigua & Barbuda (CONCACAF Nations League)
Tuesday 10 September (02.00 CET, Georgetown): Guyana v Jamaica (CONCACAF Nations League)
Julian Baumgartlinger, Aleksandar Dragovic (Austria)
Monday 9 September (20.45 CET, Warsaw): Poland v Austria (Euro qualifiers, Group G)
Lukas Hradecky (Finland)
Sunday 8 September (20.45 CET, Tampere): Finland v Italy (Euro qualifiers Group J)
Paulinho (Brazil U23)
Tuesday 10 September (01.00 CET, Sao Paolo): Brazil U23 v Chile U23 (friendly)
Moussa Diaby (France U21)
Monday 9 September (21.00 CET, Troyes): France U21 v Czech Republic U21 (friendly)
Panos Retsos (Greece U21)
Tuesday 10 September (16.30 CET, Athens): Greece U21 v Lithuania U21 (friendly)
Adrian Stanilewicz (Poland U20)
Monday 9 September (15.00 CET, Rzeszow): Poland U20 v Portugal U20 (friendly)
Mark Lamti (Tunisia U23)
Friday 6 September (20.45 CET, Yaundé): Cameroon U23 v Tunisia U23 (U23 Africa Cup qualifier)
Tuesday 10 September (20.45 CET, Tunis): Tunisia U23 v Cameroon U23 (U23 Africa Cup qualifier)
The Werkself consolidated their position among the top teams in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga thanks to a last-minute goal on Wednesday evening. Roberto Pätzold’s team beat Hamburger SV 2-1 at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Kristin Kögel (14’) and Caroline Kehrer (90’+5) scored for Bayer 04. The result takes Bayer 04 Women onto 19 points, third in the table behind top two Bayern Munich (25) and VfL Wolfsburg (22).
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One Bayer 04 player in particular is looking forward to the Werkself’s Champions League match away at Benfica on Wednesday 5 November (kick-off at 21:00 CET). Alejandro Grimaldo returns to his old stomping ground for the first time since he joined Bayer 04 two years ago. He encounters a Portuguese side that are unbeaten in the domestic league but under pressure in the UEFA Champions League having not taken any points, even under new coach José Mourinho. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in Lisbon.
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For the first time this season, the Bayer Leverkusen U19s were beaten in the UEFA Youth League. After two wins and a draw, Bayer 04 lost 5-0 at Benfica on matchday 4. The goals for the home side were scored by Goncalo Moreira (9’, 40’) and Francisco Silva (43’) in the first half. After the restart, Eduardo Fernandes (48’) and Gil Neves (55’) completed the scoring.
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He is the best example of how far successful and professional youth development can go: Kai Havertz joined Bayer 04 from Alemannia Aachen at the age of eleven. At 17, the Germany international made his first appearance for the senior team, graduated from high school in Leverkusen and is still the youngest player ever to make one hundred appearances in the Bundesliga. From London, where he plays for top club Arsenal, Havertz is closely following the discussion about the Bayer 04 Campus and, like more than 11,000 other supporters, has signed the petition launched by Bayer 04 fans from Monheim am Rhein.
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