"That makes it almost impossible,” said Patrick Vieira last Thursday after his team lost 3-1 to Slavia Prague. Nevertheless: only “almost”. To go through to the Round of 32 in the Europa League, his team have to make up six points on the Werkself in the remaining two games – and also at least equal the 6-2 scoreline in the first meeting, that means winning 4-0 or 5-1 on Thursday. As the first game against Slavia Prague ended in a 3-2 defeat so did the head-to-head with the Czechs; the only points gained so far in the group stage came from a 1-0 win against Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Nice have also failed to fire on all cylinders in Ligue 1 since the game at the BayArena. Back then, Nice were fourth in the French top-flight but they slipped eleventh at the weekend – after a 3-1 home defeat at bottom-placed Dijon. “We’re in a difficult phase,” admitted Vieira at the post-match press conference. “We have to stick together and work even harder to turn it round.”
One definite reason for the current poor form of the French side: the serious injury to their captain and key defender Dante. The former Bundesliga player suffered a torn cruciate in a 3-0 win against Angers at the start of November and faces several months on the sidelines. After the shock injury, Nice have lost all four games with the defence conceding eleven goals without their leader. The team has also been hit hard by coronavirus: A number of players tested positive in the middle of November and the league match against Olympique Marseille had to be postponed. The majority of the players affected are now back in the squad.
Following last weekend’s big game against Wolfsburg, Bayer 04 Women face another exciting challenge as they visit Hoffenheim to kick off Matchday 3 in the Google Pixel Bundesliga on Friday (kick-off: 18:30 CEST).
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Under the slogan ‘Holidays without War’, 60 children from war-torn Ukraine took part in the summer camp organised by the German-Ukrainian association Blau-Gelbes Kreuz in Leverkusen and the surrounding area in August. The children aged between 10 and 14 – many of whom have lost their parents in the war – come from the Ukrainian twin towns of Leverkusen, Cologne and Monheim am Rhein: Nikopol, Dnipro and Volodymyr. Bayer 04, Bayer AG and TSV Bayer 04 supported the camp to mark its 10th anniversary, enabling even more children and young people than in previous years to spend a few carefree days’ holiday away from the war in the Rhineland.
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Midfielder Ruby Grant is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen and joining Portuguese runners-up Sporting CP a year before her contract expires. The 24-year-old has been at the Werkself since January 2025.
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Bayer 04 have loaned Brazilian full-back Arthur to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for one year. Arthur Augusto de Matos Soares – the full name of the right-back – has a contract with Leverkusen until 30 June 2031. At Werder, the 23-year-old is expected to make an impact and help the long-established club further consolidate their position in the Bundesliga.
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