Matchday 9 in the VBL Club Championship against FC Köln started at 15.30 CET with a 2 vs 2 encounter between Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr and Furkan ‘FURKY’ Kayacik against Denis ‘DENIS’ Müller and Tim ‘THESTRXNGER’ Katnawatos. The derby was appropriately exciting from the start: Leverkusen levelled after going 2-0 down before the Black and Reds e-Sports duo turned the game round late on with a winner at 3-2 (88’).
As the 1 vs 1 game between Landwehr and Köln’s Müller ended all square at 1-1 the final result came in the third game. Mario ‘BULJI’ Lovrinovic lost 2-1 against Katnawatos. That meant the derby ended in a draw with one point for each team.
The following fixture on matchday 10 against top-of-the-table Hansa Rostock lacked a similar intensity and excitement. The match began at 17.30 CET with the opening two vs two again involving Landwehr and Kayacik this time against Levy Finn ‘LEVYFINN’ Rieck and Henning ‘FCH_HENNING’ Wilmbusse. The Leverkusen eSports players ran out 3-1 winners clocking up the fourth 2 vs 2 victory in the current season.
Landwehr and Rostock’s Rieck then drew 1-1 in the 1 vs 1 clash. Once again, the final result came to down to the third match with Furky securing an impressive 4-0 win against Rostock’s Wilmbusse. Leverkusen thereby picked up three points against the league leaders from the Baltic coast. It was the first defeat for Hansa Rostock in the VBL CC 2022/23 campaign.
The #B04eSports team can now go into the next double matchday in confident mood. The fixture is on Tuesday 6 December. Leverkusen first play FC St. Pauli on matchday 11 at 18.30 CET and that is followed at 19.30 CET with matchday 12 against Hannover 96.
The results on matchdays 9 and 10:
FC Köln vs Bayer 04 (1 point)
Two vs two: 2-3
Müller against Landwehr: 1-1
Katnawatos against Lovrinovic: 2-1
Bayer 04 vs FC Hansa Rostock (3 points)
Two vs two: 3-1
Landwehr against Rieck: 1-1
Furky against Wilmbusse: 4-0
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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