The Leverkusen players on the virtual turf are again Marc ‘MARC_LDW23’ Landwehr and Furkan ‘FURKY’ Kayacik, who both extended their contracts with the Werkself last month. The duo are joined by the new Bayer 04 eSports talent Mario ‘BULJI’ Lovrinovic.
29 teams will compete in the coming season in the VBL Club Championship 2022/23 – more than ever before. The teams will be split into two North-West and South-East divisions as usual. The Leverkusen trio will compete in the North-West section along with the following 14 clubs: FC Köln, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hansa Rostock, Schalke 04, FC St. Pauli, Hamburg SV, Hannover 96, Hertha Berlin, Holstein Kiel, SC Paderborn 07, Werder Bremen, VfL Bochum, VfL Wolfsburg and Eintracht Braunschweig.
In addition to matches at the weekend, the kick-off times for games during the week are always on Tuesdays in the North-West section. Matchday one for the Black and Reds is on 15 November. The final matchday in the current calendar year is on 20 December before games resume on matchday 11 on 10 January. That gives all friends of Bayer 04 the chance to follow and support the Werkself during the Bundesliga break. The final matchday 14 in the VBL Club Championship 2022/23 will be played on 28 February 2023.
As usual, the teams finishing first and second in the two sections will qualify for the final rounds of the VBL Club Championship on 25 and 26 March 2023. Teams finishing from third to sixth in the two sections will take part in the VBL Club Championship play-offs on 7 and 8 March to decide the remaining four places in the finals. The German Club champions will be the winner of the eight final teams in the knockout tournament.
That will be followed by the German individual championship in the so-called VBL Grand Final. Qualifiers are the two eSports players from the four best clubs in the division from the VBL Club Championship. Another 24 players from the clubs in the VBL Club Championship also have the opportunity to take part in the Grand Final via VBL play-offs.
A total of 104 players will meet in the VBL play-offs who have qualified via the VBL Open for the VBL Play-offs. The VBL Open gives everyone the opportunity to take part in the knockout rounds of the VBL play-offs. From the 128 participants in the VBL play-offs, 16 players will qualify for the VBL Grand Final.
The 32 eSports players in the Grand Final will compete in a group stage before playing for the German Individual Championship in knockout rounds.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen will have to manage without centre-back Edmond Tapsoba in the coming weeks. The Burkina Faso international returned to the Werkself from the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco with a muscle injury.
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The Werkself are away to Hamburg SV at the end of the Hinrunde in the 2025/26 Bundesliga campaign. The match at the newly promoted club is on Tuesday night, 13 January (kick-off: 20:30 CET). Ahead of the first encounter with HSV since 2018, Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the strengths of the opponents, lessons learnt from the home defeat against VfB Stuttgart and provided a squad update.
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In Germany, the temperatures are currently around zero, leaving even professional footballers freezing - but not the Bayer 04 Women. Roberto Pätzold's team have fled the cold to the south and are preparing for the second half of the season at a training camp in the Algarve, almost 2,000 kilometres away from home as the crow flies. The Leverkusen squad landed in Faro on Saturday morning and have already completed the first three training sessions over the weekend.
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It was a disappointing Saturday night. The Werkself lost 4-1 to VfB Stuttgart to start the new year on Bundesliga matchday 16 in 2025/26, a result that left both players and fans disappointed. "We played without any passion," said Alejandro Grimaldo honestly afterwards. Teammate Jarell Quansah was even more self-critical, emphasising: "We were miles off it in the first half. You can't put in a performance like that, especially in front of our own fans and I can only apologise to them, to be honest." Read on for the reaction, facts and stats from the clash with VfB Stuttgart in the Werkself review.
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