Following discussion between Germany coach Joachim Löw and Germany U21 coach Stefan Kuntz, Jonathan Tah has travelled to Amsterdam today. The Bayer 04 defender has been called up to the senior squad for Tuesday's Nations League game away to France in Paris (20.45 CET, live on ARD). On Friday, Tah captained the Germany U21 team in the 2-1 win against Norway to put Germany through to the 2019 European Championships in Italy and San Marino.
Stefan Kuntz said: "Jonathan has demonstrated his leadership role in exemplary fashion. He has totally focused on us qualifying for the European Championships and he led the way in the game against Norway. He has absolutely deserved his call-up to the senior squad." Jonathan Tah responded to the unexpected call-up as follows. "Firstly, I'm really happy about the win against Norway. Our clear target was to go through to the European Championships finals and we've achieved that with an impressive and battling performance. Of course, I'm now very happy about the call-up to the Germany squad. It's a great sign of approval from the national coach that he called me up for the game in France."
Tah was captain of the Germany U21's on Friday night as the Bayer 04 central defender helped take Germany through to next year's European Championship finals in Italy and San Marino. Germany secured a 2-1 win against major rivals Norway in front of a 4,300 crowd in Ingolstadt and thereby qualify for the European Championship finals ahead of Tuesday's match against Ireland in Heidenheim (18.00 CET). Tah provided the assist for Germany's opener scored by Schalke player Cedric Teuchert with a diagonal pass from his own half. Luca Waldschmidt (Freiburg) doubled the lead (31') before Norway pulled a goal back on 46 minutes. Former Werkself team-mate Benny Henrichs (now at AS Monaco) played alongside Tah at left back for the full 90 minutes.
Panagiotis, known as Panos, Retsos wore the Bayer 04 jersey for three years. Including his loan spells, he was under contract with the Werkself for a total of four and a half years. "It's a very special club for me," said the 27-year-old, who returned to his boyhood club Olympiacos in 2022, in an interview with bayer04.de. The former Leverkusen man is now captain and a first choice for the Werkself's next opponents in the UEFA Champions League. Ahead of the clash on Tuesday night, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), Retsos talks about his fond memories of his time in Leverkusen and the imminent reunion with some of his former team-mates. He also talks about who brought him to Leverkusen and why he likes getting older.
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Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without goalkeeper Mark Flekken and forward Nathan Tella for the time being.
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After a week in the Algarve, the Bayer 04 Women returned home on Saturday afternoon. The Werkself had six training sessions, two friendlies and a lot of time together as a team. Roberto Pätzold's team will be back in action in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga next Friday for the start of matchday 15.
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"We didn’t make the right decision at the right moments," said captain Robert Andrich after the 1-0 defeat away to TSG Hoffenheim, where Bayer 04 endeavoured to control the game but failed to score. The Werkself also had two enforced substitutions due to injuries. Nevertheless, the coach, captain and debutant Janis Blaswich are positive about the coming weeks. The Werkself review.
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