Joel Pohjanpalo appears to be unlucky with injuries. On Sunday, the Finland team including Lukas Hradecky clocked up a 2-1 against Bulgaria in the UEFA Nations League – an injury brought the game to an early end for Pohjanpalo on 35 minutes. A negative diagnosis followed on Monday, “a serious injury to the left ankle,” as announced by FC Union Berlin, where the striker is under contract to the end of the season. The 26-year-old will now undergo an operation and is set to be out of action for an extended period. A lot of Danger fans will be concerned when they hear ‘ankle’ and ‘Pohjanpalo’ in the same sentence as the striker was sidelined for 437 days on 2018/19. Back then, he suffered a protracted circulation problem in his right ankle. Keep your head up, Jolle! We wish you a speedy recovery.
The France U21s beat Switzerland 3-1 in a Euros qualifier on Monday night. Moussa Diaby came on for ‘Les Bleus’ on 82 minutes. The France U21s have not lost a single game in Group B of the qualifying rounds for the forthcoming European Championships. The team secured qualification for the Euros with a 5-0 victory over Liechtenstein in their previous group match. Bayer 04 teammate Edmond Tapsoba and his Burkina Faso side drew 0-0 with Malawi in an Africa Cup qualifier. Burkina Faso are currently top of Group B. There are still two games to play.
Germany are away to Spain in the Nations League on Tuesday night at 20.45 CET (live on ARD). The Werkself duo Jonathan Tah and Nadiem Amiri are hoping to play in Seville. A win would seal top spot in the group for Germany in League A. Ahead of the clash, second-placed Spain, with eight points, are on the heels of Germany (nine points).
Today is also a matchday for Florian Wirtz and Lennart Grill. The Germany U21s play Wales in a Euro qualifier (18.15 CET, live on Pro7 Maxx). Germany are level on points with Wales. If Bosnia-Herzegovina help out by beating Belgium, then a win for the Germany U21s under Stefan Kuntz would put them top of Group 9.
The Bayer 04 eSports duo Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin and Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ De Cae are in action in matchdays 3 and 4 in the Virtual Bundesliga on Tuesday afternoon. From 16.30 CET the opponents are SC Paderborn 04 and 20.00 CET sees the start of the clash on the console with FC St. Pauli. For the start of the new VBL season, Wollin and De Cae clocked up two wins on the double matchday against Holstein Kiel and VfL Wolfsburg. Now the Black and Red duo are defending top spot in the table. Both matches are live on Twitch.
A Bayer 04 legend and honorary captain has his birthday! Bernd ‘Schnix’ Schneider is 47 today (Tuesday). The midfielder joined Bayer 04 in 1999 and played for the club for ten years. Schneider had his heyday under the Bayer Cross: In 2003/04, the now 47-year-old was one of the most prolific players in the Bundesliga with ten goals. He made 366 appearances for the Black and Reds and scored 52 goals – and 80 assists also deserve a mention. With the Werkself in 2002, he was runner-up in the league, DFB Cup and Champions League finalist. ‘The white Brazilian’ ended his playing career in 2009 and is now working as a players agent. Happy Birthday, Schnix!
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Two Saturdays, one Friday and one Sunday: The dates for the Bayer 04 Women's team games on matchdays 16 to 19 have been finalised. Three of the four matches scheduled by the German Football Association (DFB) on Tuesday will be played at home at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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Bayer 04 currently have a number of promising young talents on loan to various clubs in Europe with the aim of gaining match practice and furthering their individual development. Francis Onyeka and Farid Alfa-Ruprecht, for example, play for VfL Bochum 1848, while Artem Stepanov is a striker with 1. FC Nürnberg, coached by World Cup winner Miroslav Klose. Tim Oermann is a defender in the Austrian Bundesliga at top club SK Sturm Graz and Abdoulaye Faye is playing in France for FC Lorient, promoted to Ligue 1 this season. Bayer04.de reviews the first six months for the Leverkusen players out on loan.
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Despite a courageous display, the Bayer 04 Women missed out on a surprise at the start of the second half of the Bundesliga season. Coach Roberto Pätzold's team lost 3-0 to league leaders Bayern Munich on Monday night. An early goal from the clinical visitors, a disputed penalty and another spot-kick prevented Leverkusen, who are seventh in the table on 22 points from 14 games, from picking up a point in front of 3,011 spectators at the sold-out Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
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