Last week, ‘DETO’ and ‘B04_DUBZJE’ made a perfect start with two overall wins against Holstein Kiel and VfL Wolfsburg that took them to the top spot in the North-West Division. On Tuesday night it was the league leaders against the bottom-placed club. Paderborn were unable to complete all the games due to a Covid-19 infection – there will be a rearranged match.
In the first game on PlayStation 4, Wollin was left empty-handed after a 3-1 defeat against Lucas ‘FIEDLER_14’ Fiedler. The statistics were clearly in his favour: the Bayer 04 e-player had 8 shots to 3. And De Cae also failed to pick up points in the one-on-one on Xbox. The match against Justin ‘GODLY’ Kampmeier ended in a 3-2 defeat. In the closing double against Yannik ‘WILDSTYLER’ Büscher and Nikola ‘TEUTONENWEGCHAMP’ Pesa, the Bayer 04 duo secured a convincing 4-1 win.
The clash with VBL newcomers St. Pauli followed in the late evening. Wollin suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat on PS4 against Erol ‘EROL_96X’ Bernhardt in the individual encounter. In the second match on Xbox, De Cae initially levelled the overall result with a 1-0 win against Tom ‘FCSP TOM’ Köst, before the respective duos played at the same time. After a 4-0 deficit on 56 minutes, the strike from Karim Bellarabi on 85 minutes was merely a consolation. St. Pauli secured an overall 6-3 win.
‘DETO’ was frustrated after his game: “That was really a wasted day. We had some connection issues in the first game against St. Pauli. On top of that, we were incredibly unlucky. I lost my game in spite of 9 shots on goal to 3 and some cast-iron chances. One button on the controller get slightly stuck. I’m normally very self-critical but some things worked out today. But I will learn my lessons from such situations and hopefully I can perform better over the coming weeks.”
Despite only clocking up six points, Bayer 04 are still at the top end of the table. Rhine rivals FC Köln have gone above to top spot with 20 points but the Black and Reds are on their heels with 19 points.
The next double matchday is on Tuesday 24 November with games on the consoles against Hamburg SV and VfL Bochum 1984.
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
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.
Show more
