Lukas Hradecky can achieve a lot in the next two weeks: If the keeper and his Finnish team-mates pick up more than one point against Lichtenstein and Hungary then the North Europeans will be in the European Championship finals for the first time. "We can make a piece of history for our country," said the 29-year-old full of anticipation. Kai Havertz wanted to have the same feeling as one of the three Bayer 04 players called up to the Germany squad. However, the 20-year-old suffered an injury in the Bundesliga clash with VfL Wolfsburg (2-0) and has now had to drop out of the forthcoming matches for Germany.
Nadiem Amiri and Jonathan Tah (both Germany):
Saturday 16 November (20.45 CET in Mönchengladbach): Germany v Belarus (Euro qualifier, Group C)
Tuesday 19 November (20.45 CET in Frankfurt): Germany v Northern Ireland (Euro qualifier, Group C)
Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic (both Austria:
Saturday 16 November (20.45 CET in Vienna): Austria v North Macedonia (Euro qualifier, Group G)
Tuesday 19 November (20.45 CET in Riga): Latvia v Austria (Euro qualifier, Group G)
Lukas Hradecky and Joel Pohjanpalo (both Finland):
Friday 15 November (18.00 CET in Helsinki): Finland v Liechtenstein (Euro qualifier, Group J)
Monday 18 November (20.45 CET in Athen): Greece v Finnland (Euro qualifier, Group J)
Lucas Alario (Argentina):
Friday 15 November (18.00 CET in Riad): Brazil v Argentina (friendly)
Monday 18 November (20.15 CET in Tel-Aviv): Argentina v Uruguay (friendly)
Charles Aranguiz (Chile):
Wednesday 20 November (02.30 CET in Lima): Peru v Chile (friendly)
Paulinho (Brazil U23):
Thursday 14 November (20.30 CET in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria): Brasilien U23 v USA U23 (friendly)
Moussa Diaby (France U21):
Friday 15 November (21.00 CET in Nancy): France U21 v Georgia U21 (Euro qualifier, Group 2)
Tuesday 19 November (19.00 CET in Neuchatel): Switzerland U21 v France U21 (Euro qualifier, Group 2)
Panagiotis Retsos (Greece U21):
Friday 15 November (20.00 CET in Edinburgh): Scotland U21 v Greece U21 (Euro qualifier, Group 4)
Adrian Stanilewicz (Poland U20):
Thursday 14 November (16.00 CET in Chojnice): Poland U20 v Switzerland U20 (U20 Elite League)
Monday 18 November (17.00 CET in Bytow): Poland U20 v Norway U20 (Freundschaftsspiel)
Marcel Lotka (Poland U19):
Wednesday 13 November (14.00 CET in Newport): Wales U19 v Poland U19 (Euro qualifier, Group 5)
Saturday 16 November (14.00 CET in Newport): Poland U19 v Kosovo U19 (Euro qualifier, Group 5)
Tuesday 19 November (14.00 CET in Cardiff): Poland U19 v Russia U19 (Euro qualifier, Group 5)
Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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Opening opponents, derby weekends, the opponents in the season finale: This information and more will be available to Bayer 04 fans on Thursday, 2 July, when the 2026/27 Bundesliga fixture list is published.
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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 personal 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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