After tearing a cruciate last July, Paulinho had to work in rehab over many months – now his indomitable determination to get back on the pitch has also been rewarded with selection for the Brazil Olympic squad. Congratulations, Pauli!
In addition to the 20-year-old Werkself striker, Matheus Cunha (Hertha Berlin) is another Bundesliga player travelling to Japan for the titleholders. The Olympic football tournament runs from 21 July to 7 August.
The many months of rehab for the Brazilian in the Werkstatt at the BayArena and Paulinho's thoughts at the time can be seen in the Bayer 04 documentary ‘NEVER STOP FIGHTING – Paulinho’s path from torn cruciate to comeback’.
Following the historic first international for Finland at a major tournament (1-0 against Denmark), the Eagle Owls had the opportunity to progress to the Round of 16 on matchday two. That required victory against Russia who lost their first match – however the match ended in a narrow 1-0 defeat. The battle to remain in the tournament after the group phase will be decided on the final matchday in Group B.
The clash with Russia started positively from a finish perspective: The Bayer 04 player Joel Pohjanpalo, on loan at Union Berlin last term, appeared to have put the North European side ahead on five minutes. However, the centre-forward was marginally offside with his headed goal.
Aleksey Miranchuk gave Russia the lead in added time in the first half with an impressive shot that left the Werkself number one Lukas Hradecky stranded in the Finland goal. That was the first goal conceded by the 31-year-old in the European Championship finals. To have a chance of progressing to the Round of 16, Pohjanpalo, Hradecky and Co. need to get a result against group favourites Belgium on Monday night, 21 June (kick-off: 21.00 CEST).
Like their Finnish Bayer 04 teammates, Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger were on the losing side with Austria on matchday two. The Austria team lost 2-0 against the Netherlands. While Drago was replaced on 83 minutes by Freiburg's Philip Lienhart, Baumi was not in the squad under Austria head coach Franco Foda this time.
The Werkself duo and their national teammates do have a chance of going through to the knockout stages. They play Ukraine on Monday, 22 June (kick-off: 18.00 CEST). Austria have to win in Bucharest to push Ukraine out of second spot.
The Czech Republic caused a slight upset at the European Championship with their 2-0 opening win against Scotland. Not only was the result positive but also there was a very decent performance by the young team. Man of the match was undoubtedly Werkself centre-forward Patrik Schick who secured the three points for his team with a brace. His second strike from nearly 50 metres out is the longest range goal scored in the European Championships.
The Czech Republic meet World Cup semi-finalists Croatia on Friday night at 18.00 CEST – will Schick be able to take his team through to the Round of 16 in Glasgow? It would be the surprise in Group D, which also includes England.
Charles Aránguiz (Chile) and Exequiel Palacios (Argentina) are also in action with their national teams. Matchday two in the Copa America is at the start of the weekend. The Werkself skipper Aránguiz plays first. Chile take on Bolivia at 23.00 CEST on Friday night. That is followed three hours later with Palacios and Argentina up against Uruguay, also in Group A. Chile and Argentina drew 1-1 in the opening match. Good luck, lads!
Eliminated ahead of the offline round: On Tuesday, 18 November, the Leverkusen console pros played the two remaining matches in the online preliminary round of showdown two. After picking up six points from the first four games last week, the #B04eSports team bagged another three in the two final duels - but it wasn't enough. The Leverkusen team missed out on a place in the offline knockout round, which will take place in this second showdown on 23 November in Frankfurt am Main.
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The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Just 11 days after their last encounter in the Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Women meet Hamburger SV again. On Sunday (15:00 CET), the two teams will be battling it out at the Volksparkstadion for a place in the DFB Cup quarter-finals. Coach Roberto Pätzold is aware of his team's status as favourites against the promoted outfit - and knows what it will come down to against the awkward opponents.
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Bayer 04 Women goalkeeper Charlotte Voll has been hit by injury again. The 26-year-old suffered an acromioclavicular joint separation in her left shoulder in the latter stages of the Bundesliga match at SC Freiburg on Monday and is set to be sidelined for a number of months. She underwent successful surgery in Düsseldorf on Friday.
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Like they did in the first showdown of the VBL Club Championship by WOW, which the Leverkusen gamers won in spectacular style, Marc and Sean Landwehr also started the second showdown with six points by beating TSG Hoffenheim and VfL Bochum 1848, last-16 participants of the first showdown. The #B04eSports team suffered defeat to SV Darmstadt 98 and Hertha BSC. Meanwhile, Keanu Senkbeil made his VBL CC debut in the clash with the capital club.
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