
Exequiel Palacios and Argentina ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at home to Bolivia on Thursday night. It means the Albiceleste remain undefeated after eight games in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. The star of the show in Buenos Aires was once again Lionel Messi. The new Paris Saint-Germain forward scored all three goals. The Werkself’s Palacios joined the action in the 82nd minute. It means Argentina remain on course for Qatar in second place of South America’s ten-team qualification group.
However, new Leverkusen man Piero Hincapie is more unsure of his place at the next World Cup. The 19-year-old centre-back played the full 90 minutes for Ecuador as they slipped to an agonising 1-0 defeat in Uruguay. The hosts scored their winner two minutes into added time. La Tri are currently fourth in qualifying, which would be enough for an automatic place in Qatar. But Colombia are only behind them on goal difference in fifth.
Things look less auspicious for Chile and Werkself veteran Charles Aránguiz. They missed out on crucial points as they were beaten 3-1 in Colombia. Aránguiz joined the action for the start of the second half. La Roja currently sit eighth and are six points off fifth, which would see them compete in the inter-confederation play-off.

BIOGENA is the new performance partner for the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Women’s team. Under a partnership initially set to run for three years, the club and the leading Austrian micronutrient company are pooling their expertise in the areas of health, fitness and top-level performance.
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100 children from the Bayer 04 Football Academy had the chance to gain exclusive insights: As part of the summer camp, the young footballers headed inside the BayArena at midday on Tuesday, 21 July, where they were due to meet Werkself keepers Janis Blaswich and Simeon Rapsch in the press conference room. The two players took plenty of time to answer every question from the inquisitive audience – whether it was about their own careers or their first impressions of the new head coach. Finally, there was even time left to sign autographs for the young fans.
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Alejo Sarco has left Bayer 04 Leverkusen to join Sporting Gijón in Spain’s second division. Bayer 04 have secured a buy-back clause for the 20-year-old Argentine striker, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed 16-year-old midfield prospect Gabriel Minutillo on a long-term contract. The Germany youth international will play for the U19s this season.
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