Following on from Brazil's Paulinho, another Werkself player has been selected for the Olympic football tournament. Lucas Alario, who missed the Copa America due to injury, is in the Argentina squad with the matches to be played from 21 July to 7 August in Japan. Have a successful tournament, Lucas!
Chile with Charles Aránguiz and Argentina with Exequiel Palacios are both currently unbeaten and share top spot in Group A at the Copa America. At the South American tournament, the Werkself players were both on the winning side on matchday two. Chile beat Bolivia 1-0 with Aránguiz playing the full 90 minutes. Argentina came out on top with the same scoreline in their game against Uruguay. Palacios replaced Giovanni Lo Celso (Tottenham Hotspur) on 52 minutes and helped to secure the victory.
Chile and Argentina drew 1-1 at the start of the tournament. The Leverkusen duo are in action again in the night from Monday to Tuesday morning: Aránguiz and Chile face the as yet pointless Uruguay (kick-off: 23.00 CEST), Palacios and Argentina play Paraguay (kick-off: 02.00 CEST).
Before that, four of the five Leverkusen players at the Euros will be in action on the last group matchday looking to qualify for the knockout stages. Austria with Aleksandar Dragovic and Julian Baumgartlinger meet Ukraine at 18.00 CEST. A win for Austria would give them six points in second place in Group C and a place in the last 16.
Werkself players Lukas Hradecky and Joel Pohjanpalo are set to be in the Finland line-up in Group B at 21.00 CEST in a game against the unbeaten Belgians. If the Scandinavian Euro debutants win then the Eagle Owls will definitely be in the knockout rounds – with six points Hradecky, Pohjanpalo and Co. will at least be one of the four best third-placed teams, who also qualify for the Round of 16.
The fifth Werkself player at the European Championship, Patrik Schick, could ensure a medium surprise with the Czech Republic by going through to the next round. The team currently number 40 in the world rankings are leading Group D with four points from two games. The Czech Republic finish the group stage on Tuesday, 22 June (kick-off: 21.00 CEST) against England who have the same number of points. A draw would see Schick and the Reprezentace progress to the Round of 16.
The Bayer 04 striker is currently top goalscorer along with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo. He has scored all of the Czech Republic's three goals so far at the Euros. That includes his record strike of over 45 metres which is the longest-range goal scored in the European Championships with the Leverkusen player thrilling TV viewers.
Great goals, battling and victorious underdogs, but also outstanding performances like Germany's against Portugal have helped to create Euro 2020 fever in spite of the continuing restrictions due to the pandemic. The great interest in the pan-European tournament is confirmed by TV ratings. The live broadcast of Germany's 4-2 win on ARD was watched by 20.11 million viewers. The market share was 75.7%.
Germany's 1-0 opening defeat against France on ZDF was watched by 22.55 million viewers (market share: 67.4%). The European Championship matches not involving Germany have also regularly attracted several million viewers producing a market share of over one third.
Xaver Zembrod was assistant coach at the Werkself for three and a half years. For over 150 matches, the now 54-year-old supported the former Bayer 04 head coaches Tayfun Korkut, Heiko Herrlich and Peter Bosz. Zembrod joined RB Leipzig in the summer as the assistant to Julian Nagelsmann. As recently announced by FC Bayern, the 33-year-old coach is taking his assistant with him from Leipzig to Munich.
Construction work continues on the ‘Haus der Talente’ on Kurtekottenweg in Leverkusen, where 36 young elite athletes will find a new home from next summer. The building team from Temmink Bau, led by Thomas Wellers, are hard at work. Over the past few days, excavators, wheeled loaders and rollers have removed 2,500 cubic metres of soil to excavate the basement.
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Special events for a special match: Bayer 04 are offering fans a varied programme of events at tonight’s home game in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga against German champions Bayern Munich (kick-off: 18:00 CEST). Alongside a number of interactive activities, events to mark the DFB Sustainability matchday are also planned around the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. Read on in the matchday news ahead of the clash with FC Bayern.
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Once again, two Fritz Walter Gold Medals are heading to Leverkusen: Bayer 04 new signing Kennet Eichhorn and Francis Onyeka, a product of the Werkself youth set-up, currently on loan at SV Elversberg, were honoured for their performances during the 2025/26 season. The DFB announced the awards on Monday, 14 September. The Fritz Walter Medal is the most prestigious individual award in German youth football.
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Following two close encounters against VfL Wolfsburg and away to TSG Hoffenheim, the Bayer 04 Women face another top side on Monday night. The Werkself host German double winners Bayern Munich at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium at 18:00 CEST to round off matchday 4 in the Google Pixel Women’s Bundesliga. Head coach Roberto Pätzold is counting on another spirited performance from his team.
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