In contrast to Alario, the Bayer 04 players in Leverkusen trained in the rain this morning in view of the BayArena. The Werkself stadium was lit up in purple last night – for an important reason: Bayer 04 were showing their solidarity with the doctors, nurses and parents of premature children at the Leverkusen Clinic, which the club has had a partnership with for many years. The BayArena was lit up from 17.00 to 22.00 marking yesterday's World Prematurity Day and was in good company with the Empire State Building and Niagara Falls.
Thanks to the 4-0 victory over Belarus, Germany are through to next years European Championship finals – now they are looking to win the group. Three points against Northern Ireland on Tuesday night (kick-off at 20.45 CET in Frankfurt, live on RTL) would see Germany reach their targets with the Werkself duo Jonathan Tah and Nadiem Amiri on board. The other Bayer 04 pros in the Euro 2020 finals, Julian Baumgartlinger, Aleksandar Dragovic (both Austria) and Lucas Hradecky (Finland), can be relaxed going into the final matchday of the qualifiers: Both Finland, who play Greece tonight (kick-off: 20.45 CET, live on DAZN), and Austria (Tuesday at 20.45 CET in Latvia, live on DAZN) are both set to finish second in their groups..
After coming on as a substitute for Germany in the game against Belarus, Luca Waldschmidt had to go off again just seven minutes later. The 23-year-old collided with the visitors’ keeper Alexander Gutor and today had to undergo an operation on a facial fracture. During the week, further investigations are to be made on an injured right knee and ankle. That means the second highest scorer for Freiburg, with four goals to date, will almost certainly be unavailable for the game against Bayer 04 on Saturday (23 November, kick-off: 15.30 CET) as will the suspended Vincenzo Grifo.
After a successful start to the season, the Werkself eSports player Kai 'Deto' Wollin announced the play-offs as the target for the season in his recent interview. The 31-year-old and his partner Fabian 'B04_DUBZJE' de Cae could pick up important points tonight: The duo, representing Bayer 04 in the Virtual Bundesliga (the VBL), play third from bottom FC St Pauli at 18.00 CET and league leaders VfB Stuttgart at 20.45 CET. Bayer 04 are currently seventh in the table.
Werkself player Montrell Culbreath and Bayer 04 loanee Francis Onyeka are part of Germany's final squad for the U19 European Championships this summer. The tournament is in Wales from 24 June to 12 July.
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Bayer 04 are away to third-division club SV Wehen Wiesbaden in the first round of the 2026/27 DFB Pokal. That was the outcome of the draw on Saturday night, 6 June, at the German Football Museum in Dortmund. The Werkself first round tie will be played between 21 and 24 August. The exact date has yet to be finalised.
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Carles Martìnez is raring to go. The 42-year-old speaks in his first interview in Leverkusen about the club's development to date and how he wants to build on it. He describes his previous work in France, Kuwait, Qatar and his native Barcelona, his experience in developing young players, and the key steps between now and the start of pre-season training.
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New Bayer 04 head coach Carles Martínez has arrived in Leverkusen! At midday on Friday, the 42-year-old spoke in a press conference at the BayArena about his philosophy and his aims. Managing director sport Simon Rolfes also discussed the reasons for appointing the former Toulouse boss.
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