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!
Video game producer Electronic Arts (EA) has announced the nominees for the Men's and Women's Team of the Year (TOTY) for EA Sports FC 26. With Patrik Schick and Alejandro Grimaldo for the men and Vanessa Fudalla for the women, there are three Bayer 04 players included. Fans of the Black-and-Reds can vote for each top XI of 2025 from now until 18:59 CET on Monday 12 January.
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The Werkself host Mainz at the BayArena on matchday 24 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The match is on Saturday, 28 February, at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
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The long-standing successful collaboration between Bayer 04 and the transport service provider wupsi GmbH has been expanded: From January 2026, 100 wupsi bikes with Bayer 04 branding will be available for hire throughout the city of Leverkusen. They will complement the many existing offers and services that provide key support, especially for fans travelling to and from home matches at the BayArena.
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The Werkself are back! Following the two-week winter break, head coach Kasper Hjulmand's team began the new year with an open session on Sunday. After Robert Andrich and his teammates arrived in Leverkusen yesterday for the official check-in, they got back down to business a day later in front of around 1,200 fans at the Ulrich Haberland Stadion. The report from the Werkself's first session of 2026.
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