
Four and a half months after the Grand Final, where ‘DETO’ was named best PlayStation player of the year, started the 2020/21 VBL season on Monday night. For the opening fixture, Bayer 04, as yet without the new duo Anna Klink and Marc Landwehr, faced Holstein Kiel in the North-West section.
‘DETO’ was keen to get on the attack against Kiel’s Cihat ‘CIHAT6161’ Korkmaz in a one-on-one on PlayStation 4 and he was awarded a penalty on five virtual minutes. The two-time world champion missed the spot kick but shortly after that he took an early lead through Moussa Diaby (12’). After an equaliser from Korkmaz (32’), ‘DETO’ restored the lead through youngster Samed Onur (48’). The second youth player in Wollin’s two-man attack, Yannick Schlößer, sealed the result in the closing stages (85’). Karim Bellarabi rounded off the scoring with a penalty on 90 minutes to pick up their first three points.
“We’ve trained very hard and intensively for weeks, so it’s great to start with a win on matchday one,” said Wollin after the opening victory, “I’m happy but, of course, there’s room for improvement. It was important to pick up the points first time out.”
And Fabian ‘B04_DUBZJE’ De Cae carried on in his individual match on Xbox, where ‘DETO’ had left off: Against Holstein-eSports player Benedict ‘B3NN1FIFA’ Ratzlaff, the Leverkusen player netted three times with the virtual Schlößer and goal number four was scored by Onur. Two 4-1 scorelines in the individual games for Bayer 04 for starters. “We’ve never started a season as well before,” said De Cae.
The narrow 4-3 defeat in the doubles game did slightly detract from the positive mood in the end but the Werkself eSports players were able to celebrate one or two triumphs on the console later on.
Late in the evening, there were clashes with VfL Wolfsburg. ‘DETO’ again started with an individual match where the Leverkusen player drew 1-1 with Timo ‘TIMOX’ Siep. ‘B04_DUBZJE’ came out on top with a 4-3 win in a one-on-one game against Benedikt ‘BENECR7X’ – and the double fixture also ended with a 2-0 win for #B04eSports.
After the first matchday in the newly created North-West section, the Black and Reds are in top spot – the VBL has been split into two divisions for the first time due to the high number of participating teams (26).
From 16.30 CET on next Tuesday, 17 November, there are three games against the current VBL bottom-placed team SC Paderborn. From 20.00 CET the opponents for Bayer 04 are FC St. Pauli.


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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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