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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended Abdoulaye Faye’s contract by a further year to 30 June 2031. During the 2026/27 season, the talented defender will play for Celta Vigo on loan without an option to buy. The 21-year-old Senegalese is set to feature in La Liga and the UEFA Europa League with last season’s sixth-placed side in Spain.
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The Werkself's training camp in Weimarer Land all in one place: in our daily blog you'll find all the insights and updates from the day. The programme on day one (Sunday 2 August) includes a media round with managing director sport Simon Rolfes, free time for the team after the friendly against Rot-Weiss Essen and before an intensive week of training begins, as well as a coffee get-together where CEO Fernando Carro and Rolfes met around 100 fans in the afternoon.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed Kerim Alajbegovic’s transfer to Italian record champions Juventus. The club brought the 18-year-old attacking player back to Leverkusen this summer via a buy-back option, following a season at Red Bull Salzburg. Until his move to Austria, the Bosnia international had been playing for Bayer 04’s Under-19s.
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A warm welcome to the Weimarer Land, Bayer 04! The Werkself moved into their accommodation for this year’s training camp on Saturday evening. In Blankenhain, Thuringia, head coach Carles Martínez’s team have a programme of gruelling training sessions – several of which will be open to fans – and team-building activities lined up for the next six days. We’ll be following the Werkself up close and providing you with exclusive insights, quotes, photos and videos from the training camp.
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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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