Overview
- Germany named a 25-player squad featuring 19-year-old Said El Mala for the qualifiers against Luxembourg and Slovakia, with Leroy Sané recalled and Malick Thiaw returning as Robin Koch and others miss out.
- Nagelsmann said two wins would clinch direct qualification and strengthen seeding, with the team assembling in Wolfsburg and four goalkeepers included for the final international window of 2025.
- Bayer Leverkusen earned a 1–0 Champions League win at Benfica through substitute Patrik Schick, with goalkeeper Mark Flekken outstanding, as a large summer rebuild begins to translate into results.
- Borussia Dortmund’s 1–4 defeat at Manchester City heightened concerns over goal difference in the expanded table, with sporting director Sebastian Kehl lamenting a late concession.
- Schalke, coming off two defeats, targets a reset at home to SV Elversberg on November 8, has scrapped a winter training camp for scheduling reasons, and learned Dortmund vs. Leverkusen in the DFB-Pokal is set for December 2 at 21:00 on free-to-air TV.