Paulinho and Co. played the Paraguay U23 side on Saturday 1 February as part of the fourth and final matchday in Group B. The Bayer 04 forward came off the bench on 68 minutes and made it 1-1 seven minutes later. The 19-year-old led the way for his team to win 2-1 with central striker Pepe (Gremio Porto Alegre) scoring the winner on 89 minutes.
The Brazilian youngsters picked up maximum points and the Argentina U23 team did likewise in the parallel group. The Colombia and Uruguay U23 teams finished second in the groups. These four teams now play each other from 4 to 10 February for the two places at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo that are allocated to the South American association CONMEBOL.
The Finn is at the top. Bayer 04 goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky pulled level with Yann Sommer (Borussia Mönchengladbach) on the last matchday – in the table of the goalkeepers with the highest marks according to the kicker sports journal. Hradecky and Sommer have an average mark of 2.73. In third place is Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer (2.80).
Moussa Diaby was really flying in the first month of the year. For his impressive performance in January, where the Frenchman scored one goal and provided two assists in three games, the Bayer 04 player has been nominated for the Bundesliga Rookie of the Month. In addition to the 20-year-old, Erling Haaland (Borussia Dortmund) and Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig) have also been nominated. Fans can cast their votes at www.rookie-award.com/de.
The ‘kicker meets DAZN - the football podcast’ is in its 22nd edition. Simon Rolfes, the former Werkself player and now sporting director at Bayer 04 Leverkusen, was the guest of presenters Alex Schlüter and Benni Zander last Wednesday at SPOBIS 2020. The 38-year-old talked about his time after ending his playing career, discussions with Rudi Völler and working as a TV pundit. The podcast is available on the kicker and DAZN websites as well as usual podcast platforms.
The Werkself play VfB Stuttgart in the DFB Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday 5 February. The kick-off at the BayArena is at 18.30 CET. Tickets are still available for the game. They are available online via the ticket web shop, by phone Bayer the service centre (0049 (0) 214 5000 1904) or by visiting the Bayer 04 fan shops.
A new look and new kit supplier for the 2025/26 campaign: Bayer 04 in tandem with sports equipment manufacturer New Balance present the official kit for the Leverkusen eSports players the coming season. New partner Sinology appears on the top right of the jersey. Menswear outfitters Lerros is still the main eSports sponsor and Niedax remains the sleeve partner. The jersey is available now from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
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Bosnia U19 international Kerim Alajbegovic is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth set-up to Red Bull Salzburg. The talented attacking midfielder has signed a long-term contract with the Austrian club. At the same time, the works club secured a buy-back option for the 17-year-old, who was one of the mainstays of the Leverkusen U19s.
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Preparations for the 2025/26 season at Bayer 04 start next Monday, 7 July, with the first team and youth players training together. Without the international players who were involved with their national teams at the end of last season, new head coach Erik ten Hag will welcome a group of senior and youth players to the first open training session one week ahead of the departure to the training camp in Rio de Janeiro. After the official welcome in the dressing room, the Werkself players will start the session in the shadow of the BayArena on 7 July at 14:00 CEST.
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The Werkself are away to Premier League club Chelsea in the final pre-season friendly. The game against the current holders of the UEFA Conference League is on Friday, 8 August at Stamford Bridge with the kick-off at 20:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
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