The 19-year-old is currently playing for the Selecao U23s at the South American qualification tournament for the Olympics in Tokyo. For starters, Brazil beat Peru on Monday thanks to the only goal of the game scored by Paulinho. Early on Thursday (02.30 CET), Uruguay were the opponents in Colombia – and once again Paulinho and Co. were the winners in a 3-1 victory. The Leverkusen player started the game and was substituted on 67 minutes with the scoreline at 2-0.
RB Leipzig's Matheus Cunha scored from the penalty spot on the half-hour mark to make it 2-0. Brazil are top of Group B after the two wins. Next Wednesday, they take on Bolivia in the third group match (kick-off: 02.30 CET).
After yesterday's FFT session in Leverkusen, the Bayer 04 head coach Peter Bosz talked about the different approaches to the game of the last opponents SC Paderborn and the coming opposition Fortuna Düsseldorf (Sunday, 26 January, 18.00 CET). "It was an open game against Paderborn. In contrast, we’re expecting a team on Sunday that sits back and waits to play on the break," said the Dutchman. "But the challenge will be the same: We definitely want to win!"
Referee Daniel Schlager will be in charge of a Bundesliga match involving Bayer 04 for the first time on Sunday. The 30-year-old banker has Dominik Schaal and Arno Blos as his assistants and the fourth official is Michael Bacher.
"This podcast has just one subject: Simply football." That was the trailer from WDR for their "Simply football" podcast. And who could be better as an interviewee than Stefan Kießling? The long-standing Werkself player and now consultant to the Bayer 04 board was the guest for moderator Sven Pistor. The 47-year-old is the voice of the WDR 2 Bundesliga show "Liga Live" and he invited Kies along in conjunction with his ARD colleague Jürgen Bergener. The podcast will be available soon on the WDR website.
The former Werkself player Thomas Brdaric today celebrates his 45th birthday. The former Germany international played under the Bayer Cross from 1999 to 2003 and he was with Bayer 04 for the finals in the Champions League and the DFB Cup. The central striker scored 20 goals the Werkself in 126 games and provided 12 assists. After hanging up his boots, Brdaric moved into coaching and he was the manager of the North-east Regional League side Rot-Weiß Erfurt up until November last year. Bayer 04 wish him a very happy birthday!
Hansjörg Schneider (54) was a year older yesterday. The former second division player at Fortuna Köln (285 games, 15 goals) has been a physio at Bayer 04 since 2009. On the same day, albeit a couple of years later, former Bayer 04 players Jens Hegeler (32), Vladlen Yurchenko (26) and Joel Abu Hanna (22) were born. So a belated happy birthday to one and all!
Bayer 04 are riding a wave of success on the European stage: After three wins from their first three games and as the only team yet to concede a goal, the Werkself sit second in the table in the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. With another three points in their first-ever competitive match against Olympique Marseille on Thursday night, 5 November (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Bayer 04 could leap to the top of the table. Meanwhile, the French side are riding the wave of a winning streak in Ligue 1, but are yet to pick up any points in the Europa League. For one Werkself player, Thursday night will mark a reunion with his former team-mates. Today’s matchday news.
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The Europa League campaign continues: Bayer 04 host Olympique Marseille at the BayArena on matchday four of the group stage on Thursday 5 November (kick-off: 21:00 CET). Ahead of the clash against the club from the French Mediterranean coast, head coach Carles Martínez spoke about the visitors’ form and had some good news regarding the squad. Former OM player Facundo Medina spoke, amongst other things, about the factors that will be crucial against his old club.
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The Bayer 04 Round of 16 tie in the 2026/27 DFB Pokal has been scheduled. The Werkself will host Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig on Wednesday, 2 December, at 18:00 CET. That was announced by the German Football Association (DFB).
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Video game developer Electronic Arts (EA), in collaboration with the Bundesliga, has announced the six nominees for the Bundesliga Player of the Month award for October 2026 – and Bayer 04’s Ibrahim Maza is among them. Fans of the Black and Reds can vote from now until Sunday 8 November (23:59 CET).
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