The Eagle Owls secured a comfortable 3-0 win against rivals Liechtenstein in front of 10,000 fans in Helsinki and are guaranteed second place in Group J behind Italy with a game to play. With the injured Werkself striker Joel Pohjanpalo looking on, Lukas Hradecky kept a clean sheet and ended up celebrating wearing an eagle owl mask. The Finland goals were scored by Jasse Tuominen (21’) and Teemu Pukki (64’, 75’).
Lucas Alario also had reason to celebrate with Argentina. In the clash with Brazil, a friendly played in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, the Gauchos won 1-0. The winner was scored by Lionel Messi on 14 minutes and Alario came off the bench with two minutes of normal time to play
Moussa Diaby, playing for the France U21s, celebrated a fortunate 3-2 win against Georgia to clock up a third win in the third Euro qualifier (Group B). The winner was scored in added time from the penalty spot by Odsonne Edouard. Georgia levelled through goals from Giorgi Kokhreidze (58’) and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (60’) after France had gone 2-0 up with a brace from Jeff Reine-Adelaide (15’, 54’). Diaby started on the right wing and played until being substituted on 83 minutes.
It was not a very happy night for Panagiotis Retsos. He led out the Greece U21s as captain in a Euro qualifier against Scotland in Edinburgh but ended up being sent off on 63 minutes after being shown a second yellow card. In spite of being a man down, his team-mates went on to win the game thanks to a penalty in added time scored by Dimitris Nikoalou. That leaves Greece top of the table in Group D. Paulinho (Brazil U23s) and Adrian Stanilewicz (Poland U20s) were in action on Thursday. Paulinho and the Brazil Olympic team beat USA 1-0 in a friendly played in the Spanish city of Las Palmas, Stanilewicz celebrated a runaway 5-1 victory over Switzerland with the Poland U 20 side in the Elite League. The young Werkself pro watched from the bench.
Germany, with Jonathan Tah and Nadiem Amiri in the squad, play Belarus in a Euro 2020 qualifier tonight (kick- off: 20.45 CET). At the same time, Austria play North Macedonia with Julian Baumgartlinger as captain and Aleksandar Dragovic also set to play.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed a loan deal with Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach for Argentinian striker Alejo Sarco. The 20-year-old joins Mönchengladbach with immediate effect for the rest of the season.
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After their first win on matchday 6 in the UCL league phase, Olympiacos are still in with a good chance of reaching the play-offs in the UEFA Champions League. The 2024 UEFA Conference League winners will be looking to go one better in their home match against Bayer 04 this Tuesday, 20 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), but their stop scorer is unavailable. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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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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