In two groups of 16, the eSports pros from across Germany first competed in the Swiss Mode. The first four rounds were drawn out at random and then the players played round for round against participants with the same record of wins and defeats. The Leverkusen eSports player Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr ended the games in the first group in tenth place on Saturday 10 June. Kayacik played at the same time in the second group ending his games in seventh place.
The two Leverkusen players Landwehr and Kayacik each then faced each other after the group stage on Sunday 11 June, Kayacik won 1-0 to progress to the Round of 16. The Black and Red eSports player then lost 1-0 to Khalid ‘KHALIDGRL03’ Gürel (VfL Wolfsburg) and thereby missed qualification for the last eight in the VBL Grand Finals 2023.
The VBL Grand Final:
The 32 best eSports player in Germany competed in the VBL Grand Final after qualifying via the VBL Club Championships or in the play-offs in the VBL Open. The prize money was €100,000.
Results:
Landwehr in Group 1
Two games won, two games lost
Kayacik in Group 2
Two games won, two games lost
Round of 32
Landwehr against Kayacik: 0-1
Round of 16
Gürel against Kayacik: 1-0
The sustainable use of the BayArena seats removed as part of the current stadium upgrade has taken on a new dimension: Following on from numerous Bayer 04 fans receiving their ‘Undefeated Champions seats’ and various clubs and community organisations from Leverkusen and the wider region having collected the dismantled seats, Blau-Gelbe Kreuz e.V. also made their way to the BayArena recently. The German-Ukrainian aid organisation took away around 2,100 seats; in Ukraine, these will be used to upgrade the sports infrastructure of two clubs.
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Bayer 04 have transferred U19 midfielder Emmanuel Chigozie Owen to FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended youngster Montrell Culbreath's contract once again. Having only signed a deal with the Bundesliga club until 30 June 2030 in January, still as an U19 player, the attacking midfielder, who's since established himself in the first-team squad, has penned a new contract valid until 30 June 2031. Culbreath joined the Werkself academy in 2023 and made 16 first-team appearances in the 2025/26 season in the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League, scoring one goal.
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Ecuador international Piero Hincapie, who moved to Arsenal FC on loan from Bayer 04 Leverkusen for the 2025/26 season, will join the English champions permanently on 1 July 2026.
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