The German Football League (DFL), as organisers of the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL), decided in the middle of December to postpone the remaining two-against two games in the VBL planned for 22 December due to the coronavirus pandemic. That meant the Leverkusen eSports players only completed their individual games against Werder Bremen and Hannover 96.
The outstanding virtual matches against the northern clubs have now been completed. Bayer 04 carried out comprehensive hygiene measures in the Elgato gaming room which included screens between the players for the two-against-two matches. If there are are individual matches then only the player involved stays in the room. And the main requirement still applies: maintain distancing.
Thanks to the measures taken, Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr and Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin were able to fully focus on the rearranged games – and that paid off. Against the reigning champions Bremen, there was an overall 7-1 win thanks to the 2-0 success in the doubles; after the 1-1 draw in the two-against-two game against Hannover, Bayer 04 also won against the team from Lower Saxony with a 5-2 victory.
The #B04eSports players went into the second session of the evening in confident mood. The opponents were again from the far north of the country and this time it was Holstein Kiel. The Black and Red console players were able to celebrate parallel to the 4-1 home win for the Werkself against Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Cup. First of all, ‘DETO’ drew 3-3 with his opponent Cihat ‘CIHAT6161’ Korkmaz and then Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ De Cae beat Kiel’s Benedict ‘B3NN1FIFA’ Ratzlaff 2-0 on Xbox.
As the following two-against-two ended all square at 1-1, Leverkusen earned the third overall winner of the evening. The #B04eSports players are now sixth in the North West division.
With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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A successful fourth preseason friendly ahead of the start of the training camp: The Werkself secured a 3-0 victory over Rot-Weiss Essen at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The goals in what was a commanding and dominant performance by Leverkusen from the outset were scored by Ibrahim Maza (8'), Patrik Schick from the penalty spot (23’) and, in the second half, Montrell Culbreath with a header (79’). The team set off for their training camp in Blankenhain in the Weimarer Land region after the game.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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