Bayer 04 captain Lukas Hradecky started the Euro 2024 qualifiers on Thursday night 23 March. The keeper and his Finnish compatriots played Denmark in Copenhagen. The Finns lost 3-1 in the match in Group H. Hradecky played the full 90 minutes. The next game for Hradecky and Co. is on Sunday 26 March: The Eagle Owls are away to Northern Ireland in Belfast. The kick-off is at 20.45 CEST..
Argentina, with Exequiel Palacios in the squad, played Panama in Buenos Aires overnight. The World Cup winners earned a comfortable 2-0 win in the friendly. The Leverkusen midfielder Palacios did not come off the bench. The second friendly for La Albiceleste play a second friendly against the team from Curaçao on Tuesday 28 March.
Piero Hincapie was in action in Melbourne: The Leverkusen player with Ecuador faced Australia on Friday morning (CET) 24 March. The game ended in a 3-1 win for Australia. Hincapie played the full 90 minutes. The two teams meet again next Tuesday at 10.30 CEST.
Noah Mbamba was called up to the Belgium U19 squad last week. Belgium played Slovenia on Wednesday 22 March in the U19 Euro elite round. The match in Bremen ended in a goalless draw. The midfielder came off the bench on 78 minutes. Tomorrow, Saturday 25 March, sees the 18-year-old and his teammates play their next game: The Belgium youngsters face the Germany U19s at 16.00 CET.
The first game for Madi Monamay with the Belgium U17 side in the U17 Euro elite round – also against Slovenia – ended all square at 1-1. The central defender played the full 90 minutes. Their next match is on Monday 27 March against the Croatia U17s with the match kicking off at 13.00 CEST..
Other Werkself players play their first internationals today Friday: Adam Hlozek with Czechia have their first Euro qualifier. The first opponents in Group E are Poland. The match in Prague kicks off at 20.45 CET. Austria, with goalkeeper Patrick Pentz, also start their Euro qualification campaign. Austria play Azerbaijan in Linz tonight. The kick-off is at 20.45 CET.
Odilon Kossounou is involved in the Africa Cup of Nations with the Ivory Coast at home to Comoros in a qualifier on Friday afternoon. The match in Bouaké starts at 17.00 CET. Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso is in action four hours later in Marrakech: Les Étalons play Togo at 21.00 CET..
Forthcoming international fixtures:
Adam Hlozek (Euro qualifiers):
24.3, 20.45 CET, Czechia vs Poland, Prague
27.3, 20.45 CEST, Moldova vs Czechia, Chisinau
Patrick Pentz (Euro qualifiers):
24.3., 20.45 CET, Austria vs Azerbaijan, Linz
27.3., 20.45 CEST, Austria vs Estonia, Linz
Moussa Diaby (Euro qualifiers):
25.3, 20.45 CET, France vs Netherlands, Paris
27.3, 20.45 CEST, Ireland vs France, Dublin
Lukas Hradecky (Euro qualifiers):
26.3., 20.45 CEST, Northern Ireland vs Finland, Belfast
Odilon Kossounou (AFCON qualifiers):
24.3., 17.00 CET, Ivory Coast vs Comoros, Bouaké
28.3., 15.00 CEST, Comoros vs Ivory Coast, Moroni
Edmond Tapsoba (AFCON qualifiers):
24.3, 21.00 CET, Burkina Faso vs Togo, Marrakech
28.3, 21.00 CEST, Togo vs Burkina Faso, Lomé
Florian Wirtz (Friendlies):
25.3., 20.45 CET, Germany vs Peru, Mainz
28.3., 20.45 CEST, Germany vs Belgium, Cologne
Exequiel Palacios (Friendlies):
28.3., Kick-off TBC, Argentina vs Curaçao, Santiago del Estero
Piero Hincapie (Friendlies):
28.3., 10.30 CEST, Australia vs Ecuador
Mitchel Bakker (U21 friendlies):
25.3., 18.00 CET, Netherlands U21 vs Norway U21, Pinatar
27.3., 14.00 CEST, Netherlands U21 vs Czechia U21, Pinatar
Amine Adli (U21 friendlies):
25.3., 18.00 CET, England U21 vs France U21, Leicester
28.3., 18.30 CEST, France U21 vs Spain U21, Vannes
Noah Mbamba (U19 Euro elite round):
25.3., 16.00 CET, Germany U19 vs Belgium U19, Bremen
28.3., 12.00 CEST, Italy U19 vs Belgium U19, Bremen
Madi Monamay (U17 Euro elite round):
25.3., 13.00 CET, Belgium U17 vs Croatia U17, Fredeikstad
28.3., 17.00 CEST, Norway U17 vs Belgium U17, Sarpsborg
In the previous game against RB Leipzig in December last year, the Werkself turned came from behind to win 3-1 and further improved Leverkusen's already strong record against the Red Bulls. Montrell Culbreath stood out with his first goal on his debut for the Black and Reds. While the 18-year-old would certainly like to score a second goal against Leipzig on Saturday night, the attack-minded visitors come to the BayArena in confident mood after five Bundesliga victories in a row. The Nordkurve12 supporters group knows the Werkself will therefore once again be reliant on the vociferous support of the fans, and has once again called for the ‘Finally Red’ campaign in the run-in. Today’s matchday news.
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Video games manufacturer Electronic Arts (EA), together with the German Football League (DFL), announced the top male and female selections for the 2025/26 Bundesliga season this week. Bayer 04 striker Vanessa Fudalla is in the starting eleven of the women's "Team of the Season". Alejandro Grimaldo and Aleix Garcia have been selected as bench players in the men's team.
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This special event showed once again how strong Bayer 04 are as a team: As part of ‘BarmeniaGothaer gives joy’, the Werkself players Edmond Tapsoba, Ibrahim Maza and Christian Kofane supported the sale of individually designed T-shirts for a good cause at the Fanwelt on Thursday. Several hundred fans came to take part in the charity campaign. Leverkusen's main sponsor BarmeniaGothaer donated the proceeds to the Fondation Edmond Tapsoba, which helps people in Tapsoba's home country of Burkina Faso in their challenging everyday lives.
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With three games to play before the end of the season, the Bayer 04 Women can break one record and equal another at SGS Essen. After three wins on the bounce, coach Roberto Pätzold's team are aiming to maintain the chance of third place in Sunday’s away game (14:00 CEST, Stadion an der Hafenstraße).
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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