Croatia were the favourites going into the Round of 16 game against Denmark after winning all three group matches against Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland. Tin Jedvaj, who played the full 90 minutes against Iceland, remained on the subs bench with the former Bayer 04 pro Domagoj Vida in the starting eleven. Mathias Jörgensen gave Denmark the lead in the first minute but Mario Mandzukic quickly levelled on four minutes. Luka Modric had a penalty saved in added time (114 mins) by the Denmark keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Croatia then came out on top in the ensuing penalty shoot-out with their keeper Danijel Subasic saving three penalties including the final spot-kick from former Werkself player Nicolai Jörgensen who came on after 60 minutes. The quarter-finals see Croatia take on Russia in Sochi on Saturday (20.00 CET) after the hosts beat Spain 4-3 on penalties.
The Werkself fell to defeat in their final friendly match of pre-season. The Black and Reds suffered a 2-0 (H-T: 1-0) defeat at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge. The hosts scored the first goal early on, with Estevao converting a rebound off the crossbar in the 18th minute. The second half was dominated by numerous substitutions on both sides, but the Blues still managed to increase their lead in the closing stages through Joao Pedro, who made it 2-0 in stoppage time (90’+1).
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Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be without first team squad members Exequiel Palacios and Jonas Hofmann for the time being. Both players suffered injuries to their left hamstrings during Tuesday's 3-0 friendly victory against newly promoted Italian Serie A side, Pisa SC.
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The last friendly ahead of the start of the 2025/26 season takes Bayer 04 to England: The Werkself are away to Club World Cup winners Chelsea on Friday, 8 August (kick-off: 20:00 CEST). The Bayer 04 Fan Liaison team brings you the latest information on the fixture at Stamford Bridge in London…
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There was a very special event for 50 of the over 70,000 Bayer 04 Club members on the afternoon of the Bayer 04 season launch event: At the press conference room at the BayArena, CEO Fernando Carro fielded lots and somewhat different questions from the fans. The Spaniard, under whose leadership since 2018 the number of members at Bayer 04 has almost tripled, shared his personal insight into the most important decision of his life and his way of managing staff.
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