U19 centre-back Andrea Natali was called up to the Italian U19 squad and joined up with his compatriots near Madrid. In a friendly against Spain on the final day of the camp, the Leverkusen youngster played the full match and more than held his own among team-mates who were mostly two years older. It finished 1-0 to the Spaniards.
No fewer than three players from the Bayer 04 academy were named in Marc Meister's German U17 squad. Ben Hawighorst, Jeremiah Mensah and Nebe Domnic took part in the first ten-day camp of the new year on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, where two friendlies against Portugal were also held.
Hawighorst and Domnic started in the first game and were brought off at half-time as planned after pleasing displays. At the start of the second period, Mensah came on and caught the eye in attack, converting a penalty in the subsequent shootout - which Portugal won - among other things.
Friendly number two began with all three Leverkusen boys in the starting line-up. Hawighorst was forced off with an injury during the first half, while Domnic and Mensah were replaced at the break.
Germany's U16 head coach André Pawlak also counted on Leverkusen personnel in his roster. Elia Datené and Ivan Massek travelled to the Spanish Mediterranean coast for 10 days and, like the U17s, took part in two friendlies against their Portuguese counterparts. The Bayer 04 pair came on at the restart in the first encounter, with Massek scoring the equaliser for 1-1. Both were on target in the concluding penalty shootout. The second friendly also ended in a draw after regular time (2-2), with Datené and Massek playing the first half.
Coming up in February are the U17 Algarve Cup in Portugal as well as an U16 UEFA development tournament.
There won’t just be plenty of excitement on the pitch as Bayer 04 host Borussia Dortmund at the BayArena at 18:30 CET on Saturday. Outside the stadium there will be collection points for food donations to the Leverkusen Foodbank, which will also benefit from the profits of a jersey raffle in the Fanwelt afterwards. There will also be a minute’s silence before kick-off following the passing of long-time Werkself player Dieter Herzog, before two fan clubs are honoured for their decades-long support at half-time and fans receive a talk about Orange Day, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the game in our matchday news.
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Bayer 04 go into the first of two successive clashes with Borussia Dortmund boosted by their Champions League win at Manchester City. Ahead of the Bundesliga top match on Saturday, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the tight schedule, BVB's strengths and returning squad members.
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Borussia Dortmund are doing very well in terms of points and results in the Bundesliga, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. BVB have only suffered two defeats to date this term. Now coach Niko Kovac's team are away to the Werkself on Saturday night, 29 November (kick-off: 18:30 CET) in the top match on Bundesliga matchday 12. The two teams meet again three days later in the DFB Pokal Round of 16 tie in Dortmund. Two very competitive encounters are on the cards. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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The Bayer 04 Women clcoked up a 3-2 win in a friendly against Twente Enschede on Thursday afternoon in the last international break of 2025. In drizzle, Lilla Turanyi (16’), Kristin Kögel (65’) and Paulina Bartz (69’) scored the goals for the Werkself against the Dutch Eredivisie Vrouwen leaders, who are still unbeaten in the league.
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