The day of the Northern Ireland match is the anniversary of the debut appearance in the Germany senior team for Kai Havertz (three caps). A year ago, on 9 September 2018, the then 19-year-old was brought on in the 2-1 win against Peru by Germany coach Joachim Löw with two minutes to play. U21 European Championships runner-up Jonathan Tah (six caps) was in the squad then but did not play.
In addition to the Germany duo, 12 other Werkself players are on international duty in the coming week: Julian Baumgartlinger (68 caps) and Aleksandar Dragovic (74 caps) have been selected by Austria head coach and former Bayer 04 player Franco Foda for the two Euro qualifiers against Latvia (6 September) and Poland (9 September). Lukas Hradecky (53 caps) also faces two Euro qualifiers with Finland – the 'Eagle owls' play Greece (5 September) and Italy (8 September).
Lucas Alario (three caps) has been called up by Argentina for the first time in two years. And that is for the two friendlies against Chile (6 September) and Mexico (11 September). That could mean the Werkself number 13 coming up against team-mate Charles Aránguiz (74 caps) who is expected to be in the Chile line-up. In addition to the game against Alario's Argentina (6 September), Chile also play Honduras (11 September).
For Leon Bailey (four caps) and Jamaica there are two matches in the CONCACAF Nations League: The 'Reggae Boyz' play Antigua & Barbuda on 7 September and Guyana on 10 September.
Paulinho (Brazil U23), Moussa Diaby (France U21), Panagiotis Retsos (Greece U21), Adrian Stanilewicz (Poland U20) and the two U19 players Mark Lamti (Tunisia U23) and Marcel Lotka (Poland U19) are on the road with their junior national sides next week.
Newly promoted SV 07 Elversberg will begin the 2026/27 season as Bundesliga club number 59. The Saarland club start their first Bundesliga campaign at home to the Werkself on Saturday, 29 August (kick-off 15:30 CEST) at the URSAPHARM Arena on Kaiserlinde, which is currently being rebuilt. For one Leverkusen player in the ‘Elv’ line-up, the clash will be a special reunion. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Ernest Poku is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen to play in the Turkish Süper Lig. The club has loaned the Dutch winger to Beşiktaş for one year. If certain criteria are met, the Istanbul club – who finished fourth in the Turkish top flight last season – will be obliged to make the move permanent.
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The fixture details for the Bayer 04 Women’s first match in the 2026/27 DFB Pokal has been confirmed: As announced by the German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday morning, the Leverkusen Women will face second-tier side FC Viktoria Berlin in the first round on Sunday 27 September at 14:00 CEST.
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40 years of European nights, unforgettable moments and great stories. With the new European jersey, Bayer 04 Leverkusen and kit supplier New Balance are celebrating the club’s history in European competitions under the epic slogan ‘40 Years Across Europe. Still Creating History.’ The European jersey is now available from the Bayer 04 web shop and the Bayer 04 Fanwelt.
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Here we go: the Bayer 04 European jersey has landed, and the draw for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League is coming up tomorrow. To mark the start of the 2026/27 European campaign, Bayer 04 are hosting an autograph session on Friday afternoon, 28 August, from 15:00 to 15:30 CEST at the Fanwelt, with current Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and official club legend Paulo Sergio. Brian the Lion will also be there.
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