Six Leverkusen players with the Germany U23 squad secured the title in the round of friendlies in Murcia. As part of a European wide tournament, the team led by coach Katrin Peter played eight games over recent months. Germany beat Norway in the final 6-5 on penalties after a 0-0 scoreline after 90 minutes. The winner came from substitute Werkself midfielder Katharina Piljic. Her teammates Selina Ostermeier, Loreen Bender, Sofie Zdebel plus captain Kristin Kögel were in the starting XI. And Julia Mickenhagen was in the squad but did not come off the bench.
"We hoped for the further development and promotion of our players on the international stage with the reintroduction of the U23 national team and participation in the tournament with other top countries," said DFB sporting director Nia Künzer: "That is confirmed in my view." Germany progressed to the final with a 3-0 victory over the Netherlands – with Ostermeier, Zdebel and Kögel in the starting line-up plus U23 debutantes Bender and Piljic on the bench.
Werkself teammate Ruby Grant completed the same U23 international tournament playing for England with a 2-1 defeat against Spain and a 2-1 win against Belgium. The midfielder, signed by Bayer 04 from Swedish club BK Häcken in the winter, played 71 minutes in the first game but was on the bench for 90 minutes in the second match.
The international break ended in bitter disappointment for one Leverkusen duo. Delice Boboy and Estrella Merino Gonzalez missed out on qualifying for the U19 European Championships in June with Germany by a single goal. In the second qualifying phase, the team led by coach Michael Urbansky beat Israel (2-0) and Finland (1-0) in a mini tournament. But the Germany team lost 2-1 in the decider against the already qualified hosts Poland despite Boboy opening the scoring from a cross from a free kick by Merino Gonzalez (8') – a draw would have been enough to win the group and qualify for the tournament. Striker Boboy started in the second and third games, Merino Gonzalez was the right-back in all three matches.
Karolina Lea Vilhjalmsdottir played a blinder in the UEFA Women's Nations League. The striker scored her first hat-trick in her 51st international for Iceland in a 3-3 draw with Switzerland. The 23-year-old thereby almost secured a point for her team single-handedly. She received deserved applause when she was substituted on 87 minutes. Vilhjalmsdottir played 90 minutes in the previous 0-0 draw with Norway. Iceland have three points in Group A2 after four games.
Cornelia Kramer was on the bench in the two games for Denmark in Group A4. Germany's opponents at this summer's European Championships lost 2-1 to Wales and 3-0 against Italy.
It took exactly 60 minutes for the Werkself to take the lead through a perfectly finished counter-attack by Patrik Schick in the first leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off at Olympiacos. Referring to the meeting in the league phase and the initially squandered opportunities, coach Kasper Hjulmand said afterwards: "I thought: 'Oh no, déjà-vu.'" But after the opening goal, it took just 144 seconds for the Czech to spark more wild celebrations among those in black and red in the Greek cauldron, when Schick nodded in Alejandro Grimaldo's corner. Much to the delight of the Bayer 04 fans, his teammates and his coach, who had warm words for the striker in the aftermath. The Werkself Review.
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Werkself TV shows highlights of the 2-0 win at Olympiacos in the first leg of the play-offs of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league...
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The Werkself beat Olympiacos 2-0 in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League play-off first leg to claim a crucial victory in the Greek capital. After a focused first-half display with a number of presentable chances, Patrik Schick crowned a textbook counter to hand the Werkself the lead on the hour (60’). The Czech rounded off his brace when he headed in from a corner just 144 seconds later. Bayer 04 maintained their lead with aplomb to achieve a good position for the return leg in Leverkusen.
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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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