
Werkself player Sardar Azmoun was in the Iran starting line-up in the final of the CAFA Nations Cup on Tuesday night 20 June. The tournament is the Central Asian championship and it was played for the first time in 2023. For Azmoun and his teammates the opponents in the final were Uzbekistan. The Bayer 04 striker scored the only goal of the game on 48 minutes to win the inaugural CAFA Nations Cup – congratulations, Sardar!
Bayer 04 captain Lukas Hradecky with Finland faced San Marino on Monday 19 June. Hradecky and Co. clocked up an emphatic 6-0 victory in the Euro 2024 qualifier. The Eagle Owls lead Group H with three wins from four games.
Striker Adam Hlozek played for Czechia a day later in a friendly against Montenegro. The Czechs won the game 4-1. Hlozek came off the bench on 70 minutes and he scored the final goal of the game on 85 minutes. Austria, with goalkeeper Patrick Pentz in the squad, played Sweden in the Euro 2024 qualifiers. The match in Vienna ended in a 2-0 for the hosts. Pentz did not feature. Midfielder Florian Wirtz was in the Germany squad for the final friendly in the current international break against Colombia on Tuesday night. The match at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen ended in a 2-0 defeat for the team coached by Hansi Flick. Wirtz did not play.
Forthcoming international fixtures:
Amine Adli (France U21)
22 June: France U21 vs Italy U21 (Group stage, U21 Euros)
25 June: Norway U21 vs France U21 (Group stage, U21 Euros)
28 June: France U21 vs Switzerland U21 (Group stage, U21 Euros)

Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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Following on from the emotional last-minute win at Union Berlin, the Bayer 04 Women now face a promoted team: On Saturday, 31 January (12:00 CET), coach Roberto Pätzold's team welcome FC Nürnberg to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium for their first home game of the new year. In their second season in the Bundesliga, the Franconians have impressed with 16 points from the first 15 games.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with Germany U19 international Montrell Culbreath. The attacking midfielder and right winger has penned a deal with the Bundesliga club that runs to 30 June 2030. Culbreath has played for the Werkself as a youth player since 2023. Last December, he scored his first Bundesliga goal for the Leverkusen first team in the Bayer 04 3-1 away win at RB Leipzig.
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The Werkself's 3-0 victory over Villarreal in the UEFA Champions League certainly left many happy faces: Malik Tillman was delighted with his brace, Robert Andrich with the clean sheet and coach Kasper Hjulmand with the "manner" of this significant home win. With an overwhelming superiority and over 75 per cent possession at times, Bayer 04 deserved their place in the UCL play-off round. They will face a familiar foe in February. The Werkself review.
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