Werkself player Exequiel Palacios was on the winning side for Argentina in the clash between the Copa América winners and the European champions with a 3-0 victory over Italy on Wednesday night. While it is the second Finalissima title for La Albiceleste from South America following on from 1993, Palacios had the trophy in his hands for the first time at Wembley Stadium. The 23-year-old midfielder came on as a substitute on 75 minutes.
For Palacios, at Leverkusen since January 2020, it is his second title for Argentina since winning the COPA America last year. At club level with the top-flight Argentinian side River Plate, he has already won the national cup (2017 and 2019) plus the South American equivalent of the Champions League in 2018. The Werkself number 25 has made 19 full international appearances to date and 52 for the Black and Reds. Congratulations, Pala.
Werkself players are in action for their countries in the next few days. Mitchel Bakker makes a start from a Black and Red perspective before the weekend with the Netherlands U21s in a Euros qualifier against Moldova (Friday 3 June, 18.45 CEST).
Two hours after the kick-off in the U21 Euros qualifier comes the game for France with Moussa Diaby against Denmark in the UEFA Nations League. From 21.00 CEST Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso) and Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast) have their first matches in the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations.
In the night from Friday to Saturday, Ecuador with Piero Hincapie have a friendly against Nigeria (kick-off: 02.30 CEST), and on Saturday night there are the Nations League games for Germany with Jonathan Tah against Italy as well as for Finland with goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Here are the upcoming internationals involving Leverkusen players.
A great honour for Heung-min Son: The former Werkself player (2013 to 2015) receives the highest sporting award in his home country South Korea on this Thursday afternoon. The 29-year-old star striker who has played for the top English club Tottenham Hotspur since his move from Bayer 04 in 2015 received the Cheongnyong medal from state president Yoon Suk-Yeol ahead of the international against Brazil (1-5). The former Leverkusen player became the first Asian player to be top goalscorer in the Premier League with 23 goals in 35 league matches.
Today (Thursday), Paulo Sergio, the most prolific Brazilian in a Werkself shirt, celebrates his 53rd birthday – Bayer 04 wish many happy returns. Paulo Sérgio Silvestre do Nascimento, his full name, made 121 Bundesliga appearances for the Black and Reds (47 goals) from 1993 to 1997. After his four years at Leverkusen, the 1994 World Cup winner moved on to AS Roma and then Bayern Munich.
Today is also the birthday of former Leverkusen player Fredrik Stenman (February 2006 to June 2007 – 28 Bundesliga appearances for Bayer 04), who is now 39 years old. The third birthday boy is the 45-year-old Iranian Dariush Yazdani, Who played at Leverkusen in the second half of the 1998/99 season making one appearance for the Black and Reds. Many happy returns to you too.
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 3-0 win against FC St. Pauli in the quarter-final of the DFB-Pokal 2025/26...
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Once again in the last four! Bayer 04 put in a mature and, for long stretches, commanding performance to defeat a courageous FC St. Pauli in the quarter-finals of the 2025/26 DFB Pokal to reach the semi-finals of the competition for the third time in a row. Martin Terrier gave Leverkusen the lead on 32 minutes before Patrik Schick made it 2-0 on 63 minutes. Substitute Jonas Hofmann capped off a strong second half for the Werkself with the third goal in added time.
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The German Football League (DFL) has announced the three candidates for the title of Bundesliga Rookie of the Month for January. That includes Werkself player Jarell Quansah. Fans of Bayer 04 can vote for their favourite on the Bundesliga app from now until Thursday, 5 January (23:59 CET).
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As in the past two years, the Werkself are aiming to come out on top in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals on Tuesday night, 3 February (kick-off: 20:45 CET). With eleven home games in a row without defeat against the Kiezkicker, the Black and Reds go into the floodlit match in confident mood. But the Pokal, as is often said, has its own magic and the team from the Millerntor has much more to offer than the current 17th place in the Bundesliga would suggest. After all, Bayer 04 are one of the big German teams the combative Hamburgers have already made life difficult for this season. The matchday news.
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The Leverkusen eSports team picked up valuable points and made up ground in the overall table with a top four finish in the offline round in Showdown 4 in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. In the round of 16, Showdown 1 winners Bayer 04 defeated the unbeaten runners-up in the previous round, VfL Bochum, in a thrilling penalty shoot-out. The Landwehr cousins, themselves the current club runners-up, then beat the current club champions and Showdown 3 winners RB Leipzig. It was not until the semi-finals that they lost out to the eventual showdown winners Borussia Mönchengladbach.
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