
As in the 1-0 victory over Hungary on Saturday, the 28-year-old was again in goal for the full 90 minutes although his jaw operation meant he missed almost all of the pre-season and he has yet to make an appearance for the Werkself – a thoroughly positive signal for the coming weeks.
The internationals were less of a success for his team-mates: Charles Aránguiz and Chile drew 0-0 in a friendly against South Korea – the Werkself number 20 played for the first 45 minutes in his 66th international for La Roja. World Cup runner-up Tin Jedvaj (Croatia; League B, Group 3) and Aleksandar Dragovic (Austria; League B, Group 3) did not appear for their teams in the Nations League. Croatia suffered a setback with a 6-0 away defeat to Spain and Austria lost 1-0 to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
All four players are expected to return to Leverkusen tomorrow to join in with the build-up to the Bundesliga game against Bayern Munich on Saturday (15.30 CET).


“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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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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