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!
Sandwiched between their UEFA Champions League knockout play-off tie against Olympiacos, Bayer 04 return to Bundesliga action on Saturday with a trip to Union Berlin (kick-off: 15:30 CET). It’s a fixture of contrasting styles, with Leverkusen preferring to control the play while Union look to remain compact and counter. The Berliners are therefore suited to facing top teams, but they have only ever managed to win one of 16 meetings with the Werkself, who are looking for a fifth clean sheet of 2026 but will need to beware the home side’s threat from set pieces. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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After six wins in seven games, the Werkself will be looking to continue their winning run in the capital at FC Union Berlin. Coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke ahead of the match on Saturday, 21 February (kick-off: 15:30 CET) about defenders, the short preparation time and the condition of the pitch at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei.
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Union Berlin have performed particularly well against the top clubs in the Bundesliga this season with a draw at home to Bayern Munich and wins against VfB Stuttgart and RB Leipzig. This Saturday, 21 February (kick-off: 15:30 CET), the Irons now welcome the Werkself, currently sixth in the table, to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei. And the hosts are in desperate need of a win. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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It took exactly 60 minutes for the Werkself to take the lead through a perfectly finished counter-attack by Patrik Schick in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off at Olympiacos. Referring to the meeting in the league phase and the initially squandered opportunities, coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: "I thought: 'Oh no, déjà-vu.'" But after the opening goal, it took just 144 seconds for the Czech to spark more wild celebrations among those in black and red in the Greek cauldron, when Schick nodded in Alejandro Grimaldo's corner. Much to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans, his teammates and his coach, who had warm words for the striker in the aftermath. The Werkself Review.
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