For this Werkself fan, his position at his favourite club represents a dream come true. "I'm very much looking forward to representing Bayer 04 in the future as the first #B04eSports talent," Said Degner who will primarily start on PlayStation for Bayer 04 and he is due to become an established member of the squad for the Virtual Bundesliga (VBL) from the autumn of 2021.
As part of a comprehensive scholarship, the talented teenager will spend a year at the sports college in Leverkusen, also attended by football players like Kai Havertz, and he will be the first student at the #B04eSports Academy. The training at the eAcademy will be provided in partnership with TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen and ensure through daily training the continual development of playing ability as well as work on tactics but also in PR activity as well as the areas of nutrition and fitness. On top of that, the student will also complete his Abitur exams at the Landrat Lucas Grammar School.
Degner impressed the management of the Bayer 04 eSports department in the several months of the selection process not only on the console but also with his soft skills such as dealing with social media. "In Paul we have found a very talented first rookie for our eAcademy who has many qualities for a successful FIFA career on the console," declared Florian Dederichs, head of internationalisation and eSports at Bayer 04. “The holistic approach of academic support and continual development of talent at the eAcademy is a unique project in Germany. Therefore, we are even happier to have found a talent from our region in Paul, which fits in perfectly with this concept."
Steffi Nerius, head of the Leverkusen sports college, added: "The Leverkusen sports college offers young competitive athletes the ideal opportunity to combine school and sport. We are looking forward to being able to look after Paul as the first sports college student at the #B04eSports Academy. In future, he will join 50 athletes from eight different types of sport and train and learn with them. It's a very exciting step for TSV Bayer 04 e.V. in partnership with the Bayer 04eSports Academy. We are happy to be the pioneers in this project."
A week after the disappointing DFB Pokal exit at Hamburger SV, the Bayer 04 Women return to league action. In a home match against SGS Essen on Saturday, 22 November (kick-off: 14:00 CET at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium), coach Roberto Pätzold's team will be fighting to maintain a good position in the chasing pack in the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga.
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Tickets are on sale for the last two Bayer 04 Women's team home games in 2025. Fans can now purchase tickets for the matches at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against RB Leipzig and the final fixture of the year in the Rückrunde opener against German champions Bayern Munich. The latest information at a glance.
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Eliminated ahead of the offline round: On Tuesday, 18 November, the Leverkusen console pros played the two remaining matches in the online preliminary round of showdown two. After picking up six points from the first four games last week, the #B04eSports team bagged another three in the two final duels - but it wasn't enough. The Leverkusen team missed out on a place in the offline knockout round, which will take place in this second showdown on 23 November in Frankfurt am Main.
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Several Bayer 04 players are currently away with their respective national teams in the final international break of 2025, with most of them involved in qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Our blog will keep you up to date on the matches involving the Werkself.
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The VBL Club Championship by WOW 2025/26 continues today, Tuesday 18 November, with the last two of the six online preliminary round matches in the second showdown. Starting at 18:00 CET, Bayer 04 face Karlsruher SC, followed by Borussia Mönchengladbach at 19:00 CET. The games will be streamed live on the Bayer 04 app and on the club Twitch channel. The lowdown on our next opponents.
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