
The 19-year-old Bayer 04 player Florian Wirtz has been called up to the Germany squad for the first time since his torn cruciate in March of last year. The team under coach Hansi Flick will play two friendly fixtures in the coming international break: First against Peru in Mainz on 25 March and the opponents three days later in Cologne are Belgium.
Seven Werkself players will be in action in European qualifiers. Moussa Diaby has been called up to the France team with the first match against the Netherlands on Friday 24 March. The Équipe Tricolore are in Dublin three days later to play Ireland.
The Czech Adam Hlozek will be with his national team for a Euro qualifier in Prague against Poland on 24 March. The Leverkusen player then heads to Chisinau three days later for the game against Moldova. Werkself skipper Lukas Hradecky also has two games with the Finland team in the Euro qualifiers: Finland play Denmark next Thursday 23 March. Northern Ireland provide the opposition in Belfast three days later. Austria with the Leverkusen winter signing Patrick Pentz in the squad are preparing for two matches in Linz. Azerbaijan are the opposition on Friday 24 March and that is followed three days later by the international against Estonia.
Bayer 04 are also represented South of Europe: In Edmond Tapsoba and Odilon Kossounou, two Werkself players are in the qualifying rounds for the Africa Cup of Nations. Tapsoba has two matches with Burkina Faso against Togo and Kossounou and the Ivory Coast also play two games against the Comoros.
In addition to Wirtz and the Germany team, for other Werkself players are involved with friendlies. World Cup winner Exequiel Palacios heads to Argentina where the Leverkusen player and his fellow countrymen first play Panama and then Curacao. For Piero Hincapie, the international break takes him to the other end of the world: Ecuador have two games against Australia in Melbourne. Sardar Azmoun faces Russia in the Iranian capital Teheran.
Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong And the Netherlands U21 squad are in Spain. The Oranje team have two friendlies against the Northern Irish and Czech U21 teams. Amine Adli is with the France U21 side once in England and once in France.
Noah Mbamba will be Bremen with the Belgium U19s for games against Slovenia, Italy and Germany.
International fixtures involving Bayer 04 players:
Florian Wirtz (Friendlies):
25.03, 20.45 CET, Germany vs Peru, Mainz
28.03, 20.45 CEST, Germany vs Belgium, Cologne
Moussa Diaby (Euro qualifiers):
25.03, 20.45 CET, France vs Netherlands, Paris
27.03, 20.45 CEST, Ireland vs France, Dublin
Adam Hlozek (Euro qualifiers):
24.03, 20.45 CET, Czechia vs Poland, Prague
27.03, 20.45 CEST, Moldova vs Czechia, Chisinau
Lukas Hradecky (Euro qualifiers):
23.03, 20.45 CET, Denmark vs Finland, Copenhagen
26.03, 20.45 CET, Northern Ireland vs Finland, Belfast
Patrick Pentz (Euro qualifiers):
24.03, 20.45 CET, Austria vs Azerbaijan, Linz
27.03, 20.45 CEST, Austria vs Estonia, Linz
Odilon Kossounou (Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers):
24.03, 17.00 CET, Ivory Coast vs Comoros, Bouaké
28.03, 15.00 CEST, Comoros vs Ivory Coast, Moroni
Edmond Tapsoba (Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers):
24.03, 21.00 CET, Burkina Faso vs Togo, Marrakesh
28.03, 21.00 CEST, Togo vs Burkina Faso, Lomé
Exequiel Palacios (Friendlies):
24.03., 01.00 CET, Argentina vs Panama, Buenos Aires
28.03., Time TBC, Argentina vs Curacao, Santiago del Estero
Piero Hincapie (Friendlies):
24.03, 10.00 CET, Australia vs Ecuador, Melbourne
28.03, 10.30 CEST, Australia vs Ecuador, Melbourne
Sardar Azmoun (Friendly):
23.03, 17.00 CET, Iran vs Russia, Teheran
Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong (U21 friendlies):
25.03, 18.00 CET, Northern Ireland U21 vs Netherlands U21, Pinatar
27.03, 14.00 CEST, Czechia U21 vs Netherlands U21, Pinatar
Amine Adli (U21 friendlies):
25.03, 18.00 CET, England U21 vs France U21, Leicester
28.03, 18.30 CEST, France U21 vs Spain U21, Vannes
Noah Mbamba (U19 tournament):
22.03, 16.00 CET, Slovenia U19 vs Belgium U19, Bremen
25.03, 16.00 CET, Belgium U19 vs Germany U19, Bremen
28.03, 12.00 CEST, Italy U19 vs Belgium U19, Bremen

High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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The Bundesliga home game against VfL Wolfsburg in the first half of the season was one of those classic ‘days to forget’ for Bayer 04 Women. It started with goalkeeper Charlotte Voll being shown a red card in the first minute of the game, and following a further sending-off, coach Roberto Pätzold's 9-women side ended up losing 5-1 to last season's runners-up. At 18.30 CET on Sunday, they'll have the chance to exact revenge at the AOK Stadium - and pick up valuable points in the race for third place.
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Sofie Zdebel is up for the Goal of the Month award for February on ARD-Sportschau. Fans have until 21 March (19:00 CET) to vote for the Germany U23 international's volley to make it 2-0 in the Bayer 04 Women's derby against FC Köln (2-1).
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen are further expanding their partner network: The feed manufacturer PerNaturam is an official sponsor of the Bayer 04 Womens team. The partnership opens up a wide range of opportunities for the company to position its brand in the Bundesliga environment.
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Do you dream of wearing the Bayer cross on your chest? To play in black and red like your role models Loreen Bender, Cornelia Kramer, Kristin Kögel and co. from the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga? Then take your chance now! Our female youth teams are once again on the lookout for new talent. That's why Bayer 04 are organising a talent day on 12 April 2026 for the first time this year with trials for female juniors.
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