Joachim Löw must know the Leverkusen dialling code by heart now as the Germany coach has selected the European Championship players Bernd Leno and Jonathan Tah plus Karim Bellarabi, Julian Brandt and Kevin Volland in his squad.
All five can hope to feature in Wednesday’s friendly against Finland in Mönchengladbach (20.45 CET) and in Sunday’s opening qualifier for the 2018 World Cup against Norway on Sunday (20.45 CET). Olympic silver medal Brandt has been promised a part in Löw’s team for the first match. “I liked the way the team played in Rio and that’s why I called up players like Süle, Meyer and Brandt. They will get the chance to play on Wednesday. By agreement with Hansi Flick one or other players will return to their clubs as they have all been working hard in recent weeks,” said Löw ahead of the team meeting up in Düsseldorf as reported on www.dfb.de.
The five German players are not the only players on the road this week with a total of 19 Werkself players called up for international duty. Joel Pohjanpalo is set to be in the Finland line-up against Germany after scoring two minutes into his debut for the Werkself. The Austria squad includes the three new signings Julian Baumgartlinger, Rambo Özcan and Aleksandar Dragovic.
One head-to-head and two debuts
There is one match of special interest from a Leverkusen point of view: As at Euro 2016 Croatia and Turkey face each other. Croatia with Tin Jedvaj won 1-0 in France so Hakan Calhanoglu and Co. will be looking for revenge. Admir Mehmedi has been called up by Switzerland and Kevin Kampl by Slovenia. And Vladlen Yurchenko can look forward to making his full international debut for Ukraine.
And Benny Henrichs is also about to make his debut: He has been called up for the Germany U21 squad under new coach Stefan Kuntz and Joel Abu Hanna is in the Germany U19 squad. And Charles Aránguiz will be in action in South America with Chile in the race for World Cup qualification.
Internationals involving Bayer 04 players:
Wednesday 31.08.
20.00 CET: Turkey v Russia (Calhanoglu)
20.45 CET: Germany v Finland (Leno, Tah, Bellarabi, Brandt, Volland || Pohjanpalo)
Thursday 01.08.
12.30 CET: Australia v Iraq (Kruse)
20.45 CET: Netherlands v Greece (Papadopoulos)
Friday 02.09.
02.00 CET: Paraguay v Chile (Aránguiz)
18.00 CET: Germany U19 v Russia U19 (Abu Hanna)
18.15 CET: Germany U21 v Slovakia U21 (Henrichs)
Sunday 04.09.
18.00 CET: Lithuania v Slovenia (Kampl)
20.45 CET: Norway v Germany (Leno, Tah, Bellarabi, Brandt, Volland)
Monday 05.09.
18.00 CET: Georgia v Austria (Özcan, Baumgartlinger, Dragovic)
18.00 CET: Germany U19 v Netherlands U19 (Abu Hanna)
20.45 CET: Croatia v Turkey (Jedvaj || Calhanoglu)
20.45 CET: Kosovo v Finland (Pohjanpalo)
20.45 CET: Ukraine v Iceland (Yurchenko)
Tuesday 06.09.
13.30 CET: UAE v Australia (Kruse)
18.00 CET: Finland U21 v Germany U21 (Henrichs)
20.45 CET: Switzerland v Portugal (Mehmedi)
20.45 CET: Gibraltar v Greece (Papadopoulos)
Wednesday 07.09.
01.00 CET: Chile v Bolivia (Aránguiz).
A special visit to the BayArena: 222 members from volunteer fire brigades in Leverkusen, the Rheinisch-Bergisch district and the Oberbergisch district watched the Werkself’s 2–0 home win over Slovenian champions NK Celje live in the stadium. Bayer 04 had invited them to the 2026/27 Europa League opener as a thank-you for their tremendous dedication. They watched the match together in Block F4.
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The Bayer 04 U19s have extended their winning run with a fifth consecutive victory on Matchday 5 of the DFB Youth League’s preliminary round. Coach Patrick Greveraars’ side secured a 3–2 (2–1) win in their match against second-placed FC Viktoria Köln, with Burak Kir and Nebe Domnic scoring for the hosts in the first half before captain Ben Hawighorst found the net after the break.
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Bayer 04 will have to manage without defender Guéla Doué for the time being. The Ivory Coast international sustained a muscle injury to his right calf during the final Werkself training session yesterday ahead of the Europa League clash with Slovenian champions NK Celje.
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For the first time since reaching the final against AS Roma (2–2, first leg 2–0) in May 2024, Bayer 04 are playing another home match in the UEFA Europa League – and they will be wearing their new European kit. On Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), the BayArena will welcome Slovenian champions NK Celje, who appointed a new coach this week following a mixed start to the season. Under the slogan “40 Years Across Europe. Still Creating History.”, the Black and Reds now aim to add the next chapter to their European history, which has seen so much success in recent years. Bayer 04 fans can follow the match on free-to-air TV on RTL, as well as on Sky and Werkself Radio. The matchday news.
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European football returns to the BayArena: Bayer 04 host Slovenian champions NK Celje on matchday 1 in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League. Ahead of the match on Wednesday 16 September (kick-off: 21:00 CEST), head coach Carles Martínez and midfielder Aleix Garcia spoke at the pre-match press conference. The focus was primarily on the great anticipation surrounding the competition and the clear objectives for it – and, given the circumstances, on a last-minute change to the opposition line-up.
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