In the nine-year history of the official eSports Bundesliga of the DFL German Football League, the teams played are in two sections for the 2020/21 season. The divisions are divided regionally into North-West and South-East. The console players of the first and second division clubs play 26 games on their respective leagues with first and second half seasons as in the Bundesliga.
The #B04eSports players secured fifth place in the North-West section with 109 points. That qualifies the team for the Final Chance round. The teams finishing from third to sixth in both divisions face each other as they battle for a place in the VBL Grand Final. The top two teams in the two sections have already qualified for the finals tournament.
The Bayer 04 eSports players finished their division with a final flurry of excellence to confirm their ambition to the Grand Final. Three overall wins and three overall draws were the results for the Black and Reds on the last six matchdays in the North-West section of the VBL Club Championship. “In the end, we gathered all our strength to achieve our target of finishing in the top six,” said Fabian De Cae, Xbox player at Bayer 04. ‘B04_DUBZJE’ along with Kai ‘DETO’ Wollin and youngster Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr plus Anna ‘B04_ANNA’ Klink are the console quartet at the Werkself.
There are four slots in the VBL Grand Final available via the Final Chance round. Leverkusen will face the fourth-placed team in the South-East division, TSG Hoffenheim (from 17.45 CET live on the Bayer 04 Twitch channel and on Instagram). Hoffenheim are in their first season in the VBL and they picked up a total of 99 points. “They have produced impressive performances in their debut season,” said Wollin in praise of the forthcoming opponents. “But our target is clear: We want to come out on top against Hoffenheim with our experience and quality and go through to the Grand Final.”
While the league matches involve 1 v 1 games on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox plus a 2 v 2, the eSports players face a new format in the Final Chance round. The knockout games are a best of three. The first match is a 2 v 2 game. TSG choose the console for the opening game as the better placed club.
That will be followed by a 1 v 1 on the other console. If there is no winner after these two games then there will be a decider on the console not used in the first 1 v 1. If that fails to produce a victor then there will be another 2 v 2 on the console not used in the first 2 v 2.
The VBL Grand Final will be held on 27 and 28 March.
A new look and new kit supplier for the 2025/26 campaign: Bayer 04 in tandem with sports equipment manufacturer New Balance present the official kit for the Leverkusen eSports players the coming season. New partner Sinology appears on the top right of the jersey. Menswear outfitters Lerros is still the main eSports sponsor and Niedax remains the sleeve partner. The jersey is available now from the Bayer 04 online shop and the Fanwelt.
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Bosnia U19 international Kerim Alajbegovic is moving from Bayer 04 Leverkusen's youth set-up to Red Bull Salzburg. The talented attacking midfielder has signed a long-term contract with the Austrian club. At the same time, the works club secured a buy-back option for the 17-year-old, who was one of the mainstays of the Leverkusen U19s.
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Preparations for the 2025/26 season at Bayer 04 start next Monday, 7 July, with the first team and youth players training together. Without the international players who were involved with their national teams at the end of last season, new head coach Erik ten Hag will welcome a group of senior and youth players to the first open training session one week ahead of the departure to the training camp in Rio de Janeiro. After the official welcome in the dressing room, the Werkself players will start the session in the shadow of the BayArena on 7 July at 14:00 CEST.
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The Werkself are away to Premier League club Chelsea in the final pre-season friendly. The game against the current holders of the UEFA Conference League is on Friday, 8 August at Stamford Bridge with the kick-off at 20:00 CEST. Read on for information on ticket sales.
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