Wirtz played in midfield alongside former Leverkusen player Kai Havertz for the opening 45 minutes before being replaced at half-time by Mario Götze. Niclas Füllkrug netted a brace in the 2-0 win in Mainz (12', 33'). Wirtz and Co. have a second friendly on Tuesday 28 March against Belgium. The kick-off at the Rhein-Energie-Stadion in Cologne is at 21.00 CEST.
A winning start for Adam Hlozek and his Czechia teammates on Friday 24 March with a 3-0 victory over Poland in Group D in their first Euros qualifier. The striker started the game and was replaced by Vaclav Cerny on 89 minutes.
Moussa Diaby and France also made a successful start to their Euro qualifiers on Friday: The Équipe Tricolore registered an impressive 4-0 win against the Netherlands in the match in Group B in Paris. Diaby came on in place of Kingsley Coman on 67 minutes.
Patrick Pentz also celebrated a first win with Austria: The Austrian national team entertained Azerbaijan in Linz on Friday with a 4-1 win in Group F. Pentz was not in goal.
Odilon Kossounou with the Ivory Coast celebrated their first win in the AFCON qualifiers with a 3-1 victory against Comoros. The defender came on as a sub on 86 minutes to replace Eric B. Bailey. And Edmond Tapsoba was also a winner in the same competition with Burkina Faso: Tapsoba and Co. beat Togo 1-0.
Piero Hincapie was in action in Melbourne: The Leverkusen player appearing for Ecuador came up against the hosts Australia on Friday morning (CET). The match ended in a 3-1 win for Australia with Hincapie on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes.
Mitchel Bakker was a winner on Saturday with the Netherlands U21 team in a friendly against Norway (3-0). Bakker came on as a sub on 70 minutes. Amine Adli was on the losing side with the France U 21s in a 4-0 defeat to England in Leicester. Adli started the game but was substituted after 63 minutes.
Following the goalless draw against the Slovenia U19s on Wednesday 22 March, Noah Mbamba drew again with the Belgium U19 side: Mbamba and Co. drew 1-1 with the Germany U19s in Bremen in a qualifier for the 2023 U19 European Championships. Mbamba played for 70 minutes.
Madi Monamay and the Belgium U17 team yesterday played against Croatia in the U17 elite round. The game in Fredrikstad in Norway ended in a 1-0 defeat. Monamay did not play in this game. The first match against Slovenia three days ago ended in a 1-1 draw.
The only game on Sunday 26 March involves keeper Lukas Hradecky with Finland: Following defeat against Denmark three days ago, the Eagle Owls play the second Euro qualifier in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland beat San Marino 2-0 in their first qualifier. The kick-off at Windsor Park in Belfast is at 20.45 CEST.
Forthcoming international fixtures:
Adam Hlozek (Euro qualifier):
27.03., 20.45 CEST, Moldova vs Czechia, Chisinau
Patrick Pentz (Euro qualifier):
27.03., 20.45 CEST, Austria vs Estonia, Linz
Moussa Diaby (Euro qualifier):
27.03., 20.45 CEST, Ireland vs France, Dublin
Lukas Hradecky (Euro qualifier):
26.03., 20.45 CEST, Northern Ireland vs Finland, Belfast
Odilon Kossounou (AFCON qualifier):
28.03., 15.00 CEST, Comoros vs Ivory Coast, Moroni
Edmond Tapsoba (AFCON qualifier):
28.03., 21.00 CEST, Togo vs Burkina Faso, Lomé
Florian Wirtz (Friendly):
28.03., 20.45 CEST, Germany vs Belgium, Cologne
Exequiel Palacios (Friendly):
28.03. Kick-off TBC, Argentina vs Curacao, Santiago del Estero
Piero Hincapie (Friendly):
28.3., 10.30 CEST, Australia vs Ecuador
Mitchel Bakker (U21 friendly):
27.3, 14.00 CEST, Netherlands U21 vs Czechia U21, Pinatar
Amine Adli (U21 friendly):
28.3, 18.30 CEST, France U21 vs Spain U21, Vannes
Noah Mbamba (U19 elite round):
28.3, 12.00 CEST, Italy U19 vs Belgium U19, Bremen
Madi Monamay (U17 elite round):
28.3, 17.00 CEST, Norway U17 vs Belgium U17, Sarpsborg
The Werkself conceded a goal at home for the first time since the beginning of January 67 minutes into the game against FSV Mainz 05 on Saturday. Jarell Quansah levelled late on for the final score of 1-1 to secure a point and avoid a first home defeat in six games. Bayer 04 were very critical of their performance after the game. The Werkself review.
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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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From special edition jerseys to fan banners, the home game against Mainz 05 was all about the many Bayer 04 fan clubs. Accordingly, a fitting tribute to the long-standing Werkself supporters was not to be missed during half-time in the Bundesliga match. Fernando Carro, CEO, honoured the up to 50-year anniversaries of six fan clubs in front of the coaches' benches at the BayArena.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw against Mainz 05 on Matchday 24 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
A late goal secured a point for Bayer 04 at home to FSV Mainz 05 in a match that saw the Black and Reds dominant in the second half. Despite lots of possession, the Werkself initially found few gaps and fell behind after 67 minutes when Sheraldo Becker scored in a Mainz counter-attack. In the closing stages, Leverkusen threw everything forward once again and equalised through Jarell Quansah (88').
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