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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will to have manage without forward Eliesse Ben Seghir. The Morocco international suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle before the AFCON final defeat against Senegal (0-1 a.e.t.).
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The VBL Club Championship 2025/26 continues. Tonight, 27 January (live on Twitch and on the Bayer 04 app from 18:00 CET), the Leverkusen eSports team will play the remaining three matches in the online preliminary round of Showdown Four. They are up against FC Kaiserslautern, SC Freiburg and the current club champions and Showdown Three winners RB Leipzig, with whom Bayer 04, club runners-up and Showdown One winners, shared some memorable moments, especially last year. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have signed Swiss goalkeeper Jonas Omlin from Borussia Mönchengladbach. The 32-year-old joins the Werkself from the Lower Rhine Bundesliga club on loan to the end of the current season. This is the reaction of Bayer 04 to the injury to first choice keeper Mark Flekken, who faces a long spell on the sidelines.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Jonas Omlin. Bayer 04 have signed the 32-year-old goalkeeper on loan from Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach until the end of the season. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes described the Swiss shot stopper, signed by the Werkself in reaction to the long-term absence of first choice keeper Mark Flekken, as an "internationally experienced keeper." Bayer04.de takes a closer look at the new signing, who will wear the number 18 jersey.
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Lucas Vázquez was the hero in Saturday's 1-0 home win against Werder Bremen, when the Spaniard scored his first Bundesliga goal to secure an important victory for Leverkusen. The 34-year-old right-sided recently met up with the Werkself magazine for an interview in the Düsseldorf restaurant Casa Galicia after the first few months of settling in to his new home in Germany. Over tapas, the five-time Champions League winner, who left Real Madrid in the summer after 18 years to continue his career at Bayer 04, spoke about his career to date, the new challenge in Leverkusen and the importance of family - and he paid a big compliment to the fans of his new club.
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