There was one change to the starting eleven from the 3-1 victory over Denmark in the first group match. Arne Maier (Hertha Berlin) made way for Florian Neuhaus (Borussia Mönchengladbach). That left Jonathan Tah and the two former Leverkusen players Benjamin Henrichs and Levin Öztunali in the starting line-up.
Germany dominated proceedings from the start at the Nereo Rocco Stadium. After the Augsburg players Marco Richter (8') and Neuhaus (10') missed the target, Germany were 1-0 up after 16 minutes. Öztunali won the ball in the opposition half and put Richter through. The FCA pro chipped the ball into the net to open the scoring.
Richter was the provider 14 minutes later. The ball came via Neuhaus and Richter to Luca Waldschmidt who converted from close range to make it 2-0 on the half-hour mark. The team led by captain Jonathan Tah, who had the Serbian star Luka Jovic well covered, did not rest on their lead but instead scored a third goal on 37 minutes. Henrichs put Waldschmidt through, he shook off his opponent and beat the Serbia keeper Boris Radunovic for a second time on the night. Öztunali had the last shot of the first half with a strike against the bar on 42 minutes.
Nadiem Amiri came on for Öztunali at the start of the second half but that did not affect the superiority of the Germany team. Amiri twice went close (52' and 63') but it was Mo Dahoud who did better on 69 minutes: His clipped shot from distance flew into the net to make it 4-0. Waldschmidt completed his hat-trick with a strike from the edge of the box to make it 5-0 (80').
Serbia did manage to score a consolation goal. The captain Zivkovic converted a penalty after Dahoud brought down Randjelovic to make the score at 5-1 on 85 minutes. Substitute Meier rounded off the scoring with a curler in added time for the final score of 6-1.
The Germany U21s extended their lead at the top of the table with their second win in their second group match. In the final game against Austria on Sunday (23 June, from 21.00 CET, live on ARD), the holders only need a draw to go through to the semi-finals of the European Championships as the group winners.
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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To all Bayer 04 fans: The Fanwelt will be closed all day next Monday 30 June. This is due to preparations for the change of kit supplier from Castore to New Balance on Tuesday 1 July.
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The Norway U23 international Julie Jorde has completed the move from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Brøndby IF. The twelve-time champions of Denmark have signed the midfielder on permanent terms after her loan move from the Bundesliga to Denmark in the winter.
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It is almost two years since Bayer 04 new signing Abdoulaye Faye first stepped foot into the BayArena as a player for the Swedish club BK Häcken in the opening match in the 2023/24 Europa League campaign. A day before his nineteenth birthday, the central defender did not play in the 4-0 win for the Werkself but it was "an incredible night" for him on 21 September 2023 as he explained in his first interview on bayer04.de. "I watched the players and saw the fans. I liked it." It was also the first European night early on in his career. He only joined the then champions of Sweden in the cold north of Europe from his home in Senegal a few weeks before that special moment. Bayer04.de profiles our new defender.
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Welcome, Abdoulaye Faye. The 20-year-old Senegalese central defender joins Leverkusen from top-flight Swedish club BK Häcken. In his first interview he talks about his move to Bayer 04 and his targets with the Werkself.
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