While the Bundesliga takes a break and the Bayer 04 pros left at home train as usual under the Bayer Cross, the nations have been battling for a place in next year's World Cup in Russia. We look at the second part of the international break from a Werkself perspective:
On Monday night, the Germany team under coach Joachim Löw continued their march through Group C. The group leaders, with a perfect record of wins to date, clocked up an impressive 6-0 victory against Norway. Julian Brandt, who earned his eleventh full cap three days ago in the 2-1 win against the Czech Republic with 60 minutes on the pitch, did not play against Norway as he joined Bernd Leno and Benjamin Henrichs on the subs' bench .
Switzerland are as good as through to the World Cup finals: With Admir Mehmedi in their ranks, the unblemished record of the Group B leaders was maintained with a 3-0 win for the second time in succession – the win against Andorra was followed this time by the same score away to Latvia. The Werkself striker played the full 90 minutes but did not find the back of the net.
The international fixtures have not been as successful for Julian Baumgartlinger, the captain of Austria. The 1-0 defeat in Wales on Saturday was followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Georgia on Tuesday night that almost certainly means their chance of making the World Cup finals has gone: Fourth in Group D, Austria are five points behind second spot with two games to play .
Vladlen Yurchenko and Bayer 04 new signing Panagiotis Retsos are still in with a shout of playing at the World Cup finals in Russia. However, Ukraine suffered a heavy blow on Tuesday night: Without Yurchenko, Ukraine lost 2-0 to Iceland in Group I and the Nordic team have now taken over their second place. A similar fate befell the home nation of Retsos. After his international debut on Thursday, the 19-year-old did not get on in the 2-1 defeat to Belgium on Sunday. Following the home defeat against the group leaders, Greece slipped from second to third in Group H.
Charles Aránguiz and Chile suffered a surprise 3-0 defeat to Paraguay on Friday. The 28-year-old picked up his fourth yellow card in the South America World Cup qualifiers that brought a one-match suspension. Aránguiz therefore left his national side early and was back training in Leverkusen on Tuesday.
The Germany U19s beat European Champions England 3-1 in a friendly on Tuesday. Bayer 04 youngster Kai Havertz picked up a booking in the first half and netted the final goal for Germany in added time at the end of the game. The two U19 players Atakan Akkaynak and Sam Schreck were on the sidelines against England.
The next international break is at the start of October 2017.
Bayer 04 and Olympiacos had only met twice before the current UEFA Champions campaign. After the encounter on Matchday 7 of this season’s league phase, the Werkself travel to face the Greek side for the second time in just four weeks for the knockout play-off first leg. The Black and Reds were dominant for large spells in mid-January but lost 2-0 after missing a number of presentable chances. The Werkself aim to do better on Wednesday night to “seize the chance for revenge,” as managing director sport Simon Rolfes put it. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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A bitter end to the fifth showdown of the 2025/26 VBL Club Championship as the #B04eSports team failed to take any points in the three remaining matches of the preliminary online round of the fifth and final showdown, missing out on the offline round. They can no longer take points in the overall table. Bayer 04 slipped out on the top eight, so direct participation in the final event for the German Club Championship is no longer possible, with Bayer 04 having to contest the play-offs.
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A rematch in Athens: On Wednesday, 18 February (kick-off: 21:00 CET), the Werkself face Greek double winners Olympiacos for the second time this season at the Karaiskakis Stadium. After the encounter in the league phase, it's now time for the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-offs. Ahead of the game, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about how his side will approach the clash, while captain Robert Andrich explained how the team will try to dampen the atmosphere in the stadium tomorrow.
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With the much-celebrated 2-1 derby win against 1. FC Köln, the Bayer 04 Women underlined their credentials as one of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Anyone wishing to support the Werkself in the stadium in the race for third place can now purchase tickets for the home match against FC Carl Zeiss Jena. Tickets are also still available for the upcoming clash against TSG Hoffenheim at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on Sunday, 22 February. The latest information at a glance.
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Let's give it our all one more time! Today, Tuesday 17 February (live on the VBL Twitch channel from 18:00 CET), the #B04eSports team play the remaining three preliminary round matches of the fifth and final showdown of the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. The Leverkusen console pros go up against 1. FC Nürnberg, 1. FC Magdeburg and Bayern Munich, aiming to secure their place in the offline knockout round and pick up valuable points for the overall table and the battle to get into the final event for the German Club Championship. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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