Germany U19 boss Christian Wörns has named defenders Anton Bäuerle and Reno Münz on stand-by for his squad for the three qualifying games to reach this summer’s Euros finals in Northern Ireland. The team will face Croatia, Romania and Turkey between 20 and 26 March in Croatia.
Filip Milojevic and Austria will take on Kosovo, Slovenia and Spain. Noah Pesch will represent Croatia against Germany, Turkey and Romania.
The 20-man squad for Germany’s U17s includes three Leverkusen youngsters for the qualifying triple header in Portugal. Naba Mensah, Montrell Culbreath and Francis Onyeka have all been called up to take on Croatia, Ireland and Portugal between 20 and 26 March. Jesper Schlich, Francesco Buono and Ken Izekor have also been named as stand-by.
Three more Werkself youngsters are also competing for a place at the U17 Euros. Kerim Alajbegovic is with Bosnia and Herzegovina to face Poland, Czechia and Belarus. Marton Szep and Hungary take on France, England and Northern Ireland.
Artem Stepanov and Ukraine have already secured their place at the summer’s finals in Cyprus after beating Greece, Switzerland and Slovakia earlier in the month by an aggregate score of 8-0.
Germany’s U16s have two games against Spain and Italy in Pirmasens on 22 and 25 March respectively, including Ben Hawighorst and Jeremiah Mensah. Coach Marc Meister has also named Nebe Sirak Domnic on stand-by.
Germany’s U15s will be training at the DFB Campus in Frankfurt between 17 and 22 March. Christian Wück and his assistant, former Bayer 04 player Jens Nowotny, have called up Leverkusen’s Halil Koc for the camp.
Overview of call-ups for March
Germany U19: Anton Bäuerle (stand-by), Reno Münz (stand-by)
Germany U17: Naba Mensah, Montrell Culbreath, Francis Onyeka, Jesper Schlich (stand-by), Francesco Buono (stand-by), Ken Izekor (stand-by)
Germany U16: Ben Hawighorst, Jeremiah Mensah, Nebe Sirak Domnic (stand-by)
Germany U15: Halil Koc
Austria U19: Filip Milojevic
Croatia U19: Noah Pesch
Croatia U14: Gabriel Minutillo
Bosnia and Herzegovina U17: Kerim Alajbegovic
Hungary U17: Marton Szep
Ukraine U17: Artem Stepanov
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have appointed Carles Martínez Novell as the new head coach. The 42-year-old Spaniard worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. Martínez finished last term in ninth place with the club from the south of France. He will take over the Werkself on 1 July 2026 and has signed a contract to 30 June 2028. Martínez, whose contract with Toulouse expires at the end of the month, succeeds Kasper Hjulmand at Leverkusen, who is leaving the club after one season.
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Welcome to Leverkusen, Carles Martínez Novell. Bayer 04 have appointed the 42-year-old Spaniard as the new head coach on a contract to 2028. Martínez most recently worked for FC Toulouse in the French Ligue 1 until the end of the season. He previously spent four years at Barcelona's legendary academy La Masia in his home city. Bayer04.de introduces Martínez in more detail.
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Bayer 04 plans for the 2026/27 pre-season continue to take shape. The Werkself will kick off the new season in mid-July with the return to the training ground. The highlight will be the official season opener on 8 August at the BayArena, including a friendly against La Liga club Sevilla. Friendlies in Germany will take the team to neighbouring Monheim, Offenbach and Jena.
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Strengthening the Bayer 04 Leverkusen youth teams: Konstantinos Kotsifakis will join the Werkself from Bundesliga 2 club Hertha Berlin for the 2026/27 season, where he will be a permanent member of the Leverkusen U19 coaching set-up. The German-Greek will also take on an operational role in coaching the Bayer 04 Future Team. The 29-year-old was most recently head coach of the U17s at Hertha Berlin.
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Another award for the Bayer 04 head groundsman and staff: After coming top in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2024/25 seasons, the BayArena pitch came second in the Bundesliga Pitch of the Year ranking for the 2025/26 season. VfL Wolfsburg secured the top spot this year, with TSG Hoffenheim in third place.
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