It was a perfect start: Amine Adli scored his first goal for France in his debut for the U21 side. The striker played the full 90 minutes in the European Championship qualifier against Ukraine and he scored the third goal. His teammates added another two before the final whistle to earn the young Equipe Tricolore a deserved 5-0 victory.
The ninth international cap for Odilon Kossounou ended with complete success for the Bayer 04 defender. The Ivory Coast beat Malawi 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier to secure top spot in Group D. The team under head coach Patrice Beaumelle have picked up seven points in the first three matches (two wins, one draw) and are currently one point ahead of Cameroon. The Ivorians are in action again on Monday, 11 October (kick-off: 18.00 CEST) with the return match against Malawi.
The Czech Republic, with Werkself striker Patrik Schick, earned a fair 2-2 draw against Wales in a hard-fought encounter. Aaron Ramsey put Wales ahead on 36 minutes but the Czechs replied two minutes later with a goal from Jakub Pesek.
Just after the restart, there was a bizarre own goal from the Wales keeper Danny Ward: Ramsey played a casual back pass to his shot-stopper who was clearly not expecting it. Ward scrambled back and hit the ball with the outside of his foot onto the right-hand post. From there it bounced back onto his head and into the goal. Schick and Co. failed to maintain their lead with Daniel James levelling on 69 minutes.
Jeremie Frimpong and Mitchel Bakker are currently away with the Netherlands U21 team. While the latter was not in the squad for the U 21 European Championship qualifier against Switzerland, Frimpong made his second appearance in an Oranje shirt. The 20-year-old was in the starting line-up and he helped his team come back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw. The Bayer 04 defender was substituted on 86 minutes. The goals for the Dutch team were scored by Joshua Zirkzee who is currently on loan from Bayern Munich at the Belgian top-flight club Anderlecht.
Florian Wirtz and Andrey Lunev watched from the sidelines as their national teams both won. Germany came back from a 1-0 deficit at half-time against Rumania to win 2-1, and Russia beat Slovakia 1-0.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 4-0 victory in the friendly match against KRC Genk...
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In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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