
Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr and Furkan ‘FURKY’ Kayacik will again be on the search for virtual goals for the Black and Reds. The duo are joined this season by the new Bayer 04 eSports talent Mario ‘BULJI’ Lovrinovic. The trio are in action in the opening clash against the Hamburg SV console pros from 18.00 CET. The Red Shorts finished second in the North West division last season.
This year's VBL campaign will be played exclusively on PlayStation 5 and the format and assessment of the matchdays have also changed: Every meeting will again involve up to three individual players and be played in a best-of-three format. However, individual matches will no longer be awarded points. The club winning after two or three individual games receive three points in the division table with the losing club collecting no points. In the event of a draw after three individual games both clubs will receive one point.
As with last season, the matchday evening in the VBL CC will consist of a double matchday this term. The games against HSV will be followed by the next meeting from 19.30 CET: The Leverkusen eSports players then play Holstein Kiel on matchday two. The Storks ended last season bottom of the table.

Midfielder Ruby Grant is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen and joining Portuguese runners-up Sporting CP a year before her contract expires. The 24-year-old has been at the Werkself since January 2025.
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Bayer 04 have loaned Brazilian full-back Arthur to Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for one year. Arthur Augusto de Matos Soares – the full name of the right-back – has a contract with Leverkusen until 30 June 2031. At Werder, the 23-year-old is expected to make an impact and help the long-established club further consolidate their position in the Bundesliga.
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Bayer 04 have loaned defender Jeanuel Belocian to Spanish top-flight side Racing Santander. The 21-year-old defender joins the team currently ninth in La Liga until the end of the current 2026/27 season. Belocian’s contract remains valid until 30 June 2029. Last season, the 1.86-metre-tall U21 international was loaned to VfL Wolfsburg for six months.
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He knows the dressing room, the pitch and the club. But, above all, he knows the feeling of playing for the Werkself at the BayArena: Moussa Diaby is back in Leverkusen after three years. The lightning-fast winger has signed a contract with Bayer 04 until 2031 and he will once again wear the number 19 jersey. The left-footed player previously played for the club from 2019 to 2023, having arrived in the Rhineland from his native France as a promising young talent and eventually leaving the club – having established himself as one of the Bundesliga’s best attackers – to join Aston Villa in the Premier League. Now he has returned to Bayer 04 from Al-Ittihad FC in Saudi Arabia.
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