Third place in the team competition plus Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin as the best PlayStation player of the year – the #B04eSports players can go into the new campaign with plenty of confidence. “We want to build on the performances and wins, compete for the title and ideally win it,” said Florian Dederichs, head of eSports at Bayer 04.
For the first time in the still short history of the competition, the participants are divided into two groups according to geography for the forthcoming third season: The ‘North West division’ with Bayer 04 and the ‘South East division’ each have 13 clubs from the Bundesliga and the second division. There will be home and away games between all the clubs. Leverkusen’s division includes seven of the best eight teams in from the last VBL CC season.
From the final tables of the two groups, a total of four teams qualify for the Grand Final – the first and second teams in each. The clubs in positions three to six in each division have the chance to go through to the finals on 27 and 28 March via a play-off – and the opportunity to be the new club champions.
The individual matches will played on EA SPORTS FIFA 21 and, as last season, will be staged in a Davis Cup format: Two games are played one-against-one – one on PlayStation 4 and one on Xbox One. The third clash is two-against- two on the console chosen by the home club.
About the VBL:
In 2012, the DFL, in cooperation with EA SPORTS, set up the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) as the first professional football league to establish an eSport competition. The increasing popularity of the VBL plus the growing relevance of eSport and the focus of the DFL on computer football led to the decision in 2018 to also introduce an individual player competition the VBL Open and the VBL Club Championship with clubs in the Bundesliga and second division. Both competitions are brought together initially in the VBL Play-offs and then the VBL Grand Final.
In mid-August, the Werkself will set off on a four-day trip to England to play their final two friendly matches of the 2026/27 pre-season against Premier League clubs Nottingham Forest and Newcastle United. The match in Nottingham against the Tricky Trees is on Wednesday 12 August at 20:45 CEST (19:45 BST) at the City Ground. The game against the Magpies in Newcastle is on Saturday 15 August at 16:00 CEST (15:00 BST) at the atmospheric St James’ Park. Details on ticket sales for both matches.
Show more
Black and Red talent development at the highest level – even off the pitch: Apprentices Jule Suermann, Leandra Bellia and Julia Niederheide have successfully completed their two- or three-year apprenticeships at the club. Bayer 04 honoured the trio at the BayArena on Tuesday.
Show more
Rieden reloaded: Just like last year, the Bayer 04 Women’s team are spending their summer training camp in this idyllic corner of Bavaria. From this Sunday, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team will be based in Rieden in the Upper Palatinate for a week.
Show more
Following the summer break, most of the players are back in Leverkusen. While two Bayer 04 first-team players are still in action at the World Cup, the players present officially kicked off the new season with fitness assessments. At the Werkstatt, the Bayer 04 rehabilitation and training centre, Robert Andrich, Edmond Tapsoba and the rest of the squad worked up quite a sweat in the sweltering summer heat. New signings Afonso Moreira and Kennet Eichhorn also successfully completed the day’s sessions alongside their new team-mates.
Show more
The Werkself return tomorrow, Tuesday 14 July (from 11:00 CEST at the BayArena; live stream on bayer04.de, the Bayer 04 app and YouTube), with new head coach Carles Martínez leading his first training session as part of the Bayer 04 set-up. His coaching team comprises a mix of new and long-standing colleagues.
Show more
