The first international break of the season is slowly but surely coming to an end. Four Bayer 04 players were in action on Tuesday night in the last matches before their return to Leverkusen.
Mitchel Bakker and Jeremie Frimpong were first up with the Netherlands U21s against Moldova. With the two Bayer 04 full-backs in the starting eleven, the Dutch team lived up to their billing as favourites in the opening qualifier for the U21 European Championships. The hosts netted all three goals in the 3-0 win in the first 54 minutes. Bakker, provider for the second goal scored by the Hertha Berlin new signing Jürgen Ekkelenkamp, was substituted on 66 minutes. Frimpong played for another 15 minutes.
The Werkself captain Lukas Hradecky and his Finland teammates faced a considerably stiffer challenge. In a World Cup qualifier game in Group D there was an away game at the reigning World Cup winners who ended up winning 2-0 thanks to a brace from Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann. Hradecky went the full distance, striker Joel Pohjanpalo (now on loan at Caykur Rizespor) played up to the 73rd minute. Moussa Diaby did not feature for France in this game.
The World Cup winners are opening up a clear lead in the group but Finland are still in with a good chance of making the play-offs. Having played one game less than second-placed Ukraine, Hradecky and Co. are currently third on the same number of points.
Russia are also on course for the World Cup finals in Group H. The favourites beat Malta 2-0 in Moscow, Werkself keeper Andrey Lunev did not play.
Charles Aránguiz (World Cup qualifier)
10.9., 01.00 CEST, Colombia vs Chile, Bogota
Piero Hincapie (World Cup qualifier)
10.9., 00.30 CEST, Uruguay vs Ecuador, Montevideo
Exequiel Palacios (World Cup qualifier)
10.9., 01.30 CEST, Argentina vs Bolivia, Buenos Aires
Panos Retsos (World Cup qualifier)
8.9., 20.45 CEST, Greece vs Sweden, Athens
Florian Wirtz (World Cup qualifier)
8.9., 20.45 CEST, Iceland vs Germany, Reykjavik
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 4-0 win at Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the DFB-Pokal 2026/27...
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Bayer 04 have comfortably reached the DFB Pokal second round thanks to a 4–0 victory away to Liga 3 side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. Patrik Schick put the Werkself ahead in the first 45 in the first competitive match under head coach Carles Martínez with debuts for new signings Miguel Gutiérrez, Afonso Moreira and Facundo Medina. After the break, Lucas Vázquez (47'), Nathan Tella (69') and Christian Kofane (79') also found the back of the net.
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Today brings the first match of the season for the Werkself. Bayer 04 kick off the 2026/27 campaign today, Saturday 22 August, at 13:00 CEST with a first-round DFB Pokal tie away to third-tier side SV Wehen Wiesbaden. The 3,700 travelling fans can not only look forward to what will hopefully be a successful start to the season, but also now organise their journeys to Black and Reds games even more easily via the WERKSELFgo car-share platform. Meanwhile, following two defeats at the start of the league season, SV Wehen are hoping to spring a surprise in the DFB Pokal tie. Today’s matchday news.
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Carolin Simon is the new captain of the Bayer 04 women’s team. The full-back, who joined from Bayern Munich in the summer, will take over the captain’s armband for the 2026/27 season. Simon returned to Leverkusen in the summer after ten years away. The 33-year-old succeeds goalkeeper Friederike Repohl, who retired at the end of last season.
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