Baumi' led out Austria as captain against North Macedonia and central defender Dragovic held the Austrian defence together. And the hosts got off to a flying start at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna: David Alaba (FC Bayern) converted an assist from Stefan Lainer (Borussia Mönchengladbach) on seven minutes. The team coached by Franco Foda dominated the game and striker Marko Arnautovic had good chances to add to the score (17', 22', 35',). As the 30-year-old missed those opportunities, Austria went into the half-time break with a 1-0 lead.
The hosts scored again early in the second half: This time it was Lainer who doubled the lead with a tap-in (48'). Austria remained in control of the match and conceded few chances to the north Macedonians. When the opponents did pose a threat, Baumgartlinger was on the spot to clear (53'). Vlatko Stojanovski pulled a goal back in added time (90+3') but that did not spoil the Austrians celebrating qualification for their third European Championship finals.
Germany will also be at Euro 2020 thanks to a convincing 4-0 win against Belarus with the Werkself pros Jonathan Tah and Nadiem Amiri on the bench for the full 90 minutes. The result means the team coached by Joachim Löw will finish in the top two positions in Group C. After a long period where Germany found it difficult to break down the Macedonian defence, it was Matthias Ginter who gave Germany the lead: Playing at his home ground in Mönchengladbach, the central defender scored an impressive goal with a back heel from a Serge Gnabry pass to make it 1-0 on 42 minutes.
The hosts immediately set out to seal the result after the restart – with success. Just four minutes were played when Leon Goretzka hit the ball into the bottom left corner with a low drive from 13 yards out. Germany produced an impressive performance with Toni Kroos scoring the third goal on 55 minutes. Belarus failed to pull a goal back when Igor Stasevich missed a penalty with Germany keeper Manuel Neuer making an excellent save (75'). Kroos netted his second for the final score of 4-0 and qualification for next years European Championships.
Werkself youth goalkeeper Marcel Lotke did not play in the group match for qualification to the U19 European Championships. His Polish team-mates beat Kosovo in a convincing 4-1 win to secure their first points in the qualifiers.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month.
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Kasper Hjulmand has led the Werkself back to winning ways and is back in the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League with Bayer 04 after the 3-0 win against Villarreal on Wednesday evening. In an interview with the Werkself magazine at the BayArena in the team meeting room, directly opposite the dressing room, he provided some special insights for the current issue, which was published in January. A conversation with the 53-year-old coach about values, attitudes and personal experiences as well as interests outside of football.
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The thrilling 3-1 win for Bayer 04 against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Hinrunde is a fond memory for Alejandro Grimaldo, with his brace from free kicks, and coach Kasper Hjulmand, who was in the dugout under the Cross for the first time. Now comes the return fixture in the metropolis on the River Main and after going out of the DFB Pokal and the Champions League, the full focus at Eintracht, currently managed by two interim coaches, is now on the Bundesliga. For their part, the Werkself will do everything in their power to continue the longest winning run against a Bundesliga club. The matchday news.
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Bayer 04 have ended Artem Stepanov’s loan deal at Nürnberg and agreed a new loan to Utrecht in the Netherlands. The Ukrainian striker did not play as much as hoped for at the Bundesliga 2 club and will now continue his development in the Eredivisie for the rest of 2025/26.
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The draw for the knockout play-offs of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League was made on Friday, 30 January and saw Bayer 04 paired with Olympiacos. It’s a reunion with the Greek side following the Werkself’s 2-0 loss in Athens on Matchday 7 of the league phase.
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