A quintet from Leverkusen completed a perfect U19 EURO qualifying campaign with Germany, with three wins in seven days ensuring the group victory and with it a place in the finals in Lithuania (15 to 27 July). Captain Paulina Bartz particularly impressed in the games against Romania (2-0), Hungary (6-0) and Sweden (4-1) with a goal in each.
Her teammate Delice Boboy scored the fourth goal against Hungary just two minutes after coming on, shortly before assisting the fifth. In the first match she played the second half, while against the Swedes she came on after 62 minutes. Anne Moll was in goal for all three games, Julia Mickenhagen featured at left-back (46 minutes against Romania, 61 against Hungary and 90 against Sweden) and striker Estrella Merino Gonzalez also started all three matches, playing until the 72nd minute against Romania, the 71st against Hungary and the full 90 against Sweden, during which she provided the assist for the fourth goal. A sixth Leverkusen player could be part of the squad in Lithuania in 18-year-old Loreen Bender, who missed qualifying through injury.
Nothing has been decided yet in the senior Women's EURO qualifying. On the first two matchdays, two Werkself teammates came up against each other in Group 4 of League A, with Iceland's Karólína Lea Vilhjálmsdóttir kicking off against Polish duo Sylwia Matysik and Nikola Karczewska. And it was Iceland who came out on top, winning 3-0 with Vilhjálmsdóttir providing the assist for the third goal in the 66th minute. Matysik played the full game while Karczewska entered the fray on 76 minutes. The Poles were also left empty-handed after Matchday 2: in a 3-1 defeat to Austria, Matysik was again on the pitch throughout and Karczewska stayed on the bench.
For Vilhjálmsdóttir, there was another internal battle just four days later as the midfielder came up against captain Elisa Senß in the Germany starting line-up in Aachen. Senß had been an unused substitute in the 3-2 win in Austria but played 77 minutes against Iceland as the DFB team won 3-1. Vilhjálmsdóttir played 90 minutes this time. Lilla Turányi and the Hungary team have one point on the board following a 1-1 draw against Azerbaijan and a 2-1 loss to Turkey. The Leverkusen centre-back played every minute.
Three other Werkself girls were involved in friendlies with their youth national teams. Sofie Zdebel was a 78th-minute substitute for Germany U20s in a 0-0 draw against USA but didn't feature in a 4-0 win over Canada. Julie Jorde and Emilie Bragstad were on their travels with Norway U23s. After the friendly against Netherlands was cancelled due to heavy snowfall, there was a 3-2 defeat to Sweden, in which the Bayer 04 duo started. Jorde, who came off after 89 minutes, provided the assist for the opening goal. It was the Norwegians' first defeat since autumn 2022.
Issa Traoré is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen to Slovakian top-flight side AS Trencin. The club has loaned the centre-back out for one year to this year’s ninth-placed team in the Slovakian league.
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Assistant coach Remzi Kahraman is leaving the Bayer 04 Women’s team with immediate effect to take up a new challenge abroad. The club has agreed to the 31-year-old’s request to leave, although his contract was originally due to run until 2027. A decision on his successor will be announced shortly.
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At the U19 European Championship in Wales, the Germany U19 national team lost their third and final group match 4-0 to Spain. Several regulars, including Bayer 04 players Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka (on loan to SV Elversberg), who had combined for four goals and assists in the two previous victories, did not feature,. Germany had already secured their place in the semi-finals with a game to spare.
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Two weeks into the preseason, the Bayer 04 Women have secured their first victory. Coach Roberto Pätzold’s team won their first friendly 2–0 against Bundesliga newcomers Mainz 05. In front of 160 spectators at the Kurtekotten Performance Centre, the two summer signings, Maja Sternad (80’) and Justine Brandau (90’), scored for the Black and Reds.
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