Volland is ranked behind Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) as the second best striker in the Bundesliga and is included in the International Class category. "The 26-year-old demonstrated his goalscoring instinct with eight goals and, with ten assists, he also showed his value to the team and demonstrated his ability to read the game," was the reasoning. "Volland has become a fixed point in Bayer's attacking game and he has finally become a leader on the pitch," the analysis continued. A noteworthy step up as the winter rankings had the striker as an outsider.
After the 4-0 win against Japan and the 2-1 victory over Ecuador, the Chile team with Charles Aránguiz have their last group match in the Copa America in the early hours of Tuesday. Aránguiz and his La Roja team-mates play second-placed Uruguay in the South American Championships at one in the morning German time. Chile can be relaxed as they already qualified the quarter-finals on Saturday. Wendell was the lucky omen and Chile fan in the stands. Wearing the Chile colours, the Brazilian crosses fingers for his Werkself team-mate – after the game Aránguiz presented him with his shirt as a thank you.
Leon Bailey is also top of the group with Jamaica at the Gold Cup. After the 3-2 win against Honduras and the goalless draw against El Salvador, Bailey and the Reggae Boyz have their last group match in the early hours of Wednesday (kick-off: two in the morning German time). There will be looking to confirm their place in the quarter-finals in the game against Curaçao
While the international players are still away with their countries, the rest of the Werkself are enjoying the last week of the summer holidays before it's back to work next week. On the morning of Monday 1 July there are the performance tests followed in the afternoon by the start of training. The first pros have already started to return to the BayArena. Returnee Niklas Lomb has been working on his own in the Werkstatt since last week. Karim Bellarabi and Joel Pohjanpalo are both expected back this week. After being sidelined with injuries in the second half of the season, they are completing a few special sessions under the guidance of Carsten Rademacher, head of the Werkstatt.
Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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There were celebrations among those in black and red at the RheinEnergieSTADION. On Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season, the Werkself beat 1. FC Köln 2-0 and registered their sixth successive win in the derby. Aleix Garcia put Bayer 04 in front after just seven minutes with a direct free kick. Leverkusen played with discipline and energy after that and didn't allow some fierce challenges to unsettle them. Patrik Schick made it 2-0 in the 86th minute, and Said El Mala's goal in stoppage time for Köln proved nothing more than consolation. Jonas Hofmann crowned the derby win with his 100th appearance for the club.
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Bayer 04 have won each of their last five competitive encounters with 1. FC Köln, and it's around seven years since their last defeat in the cathedral city. That said, the hosts are in strong form at home and will make it anything but easy for the Werkself at the RheinEnergieSTADION on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 15:30 CET). The Matchday News.
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04 Women's 2-0 win against Hamburger SV on Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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Bayer 04 Women closed the gap on the teams above them in the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win at home to Hamburger SV on Saturday afternoon. Roberto Pätzold's side bided their time at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion before second-half goals from Cornelia Kramer (58') and Lobke Loonen (90'+5) earned them a victory that moves them to within a point of third place, the final Champions League qualification spot.
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